Forgotten Enemies
by kausingkayn
Summary: Art forgers, tension in the workplace, and old flames. What could possibly go wrong? Horrible summary. Sequel to "Old Haunts." Eliot/OC, slight Parker/Hardison and Nate/Sophie. Sorry, no whumpage this time.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Another one? Already? I must love you guys. Yes, this is the fourth installment to the Eliot/Lindsey series I have going on here. For those of you new here, I would suggest reading One Day At A Time, Protectors Of Past, and Old Haunts before this. However, it isn't necessary if you don't want to.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Lindsey Spencer, and even her last name is stolen.**

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"God, Lin! What the hell did you do with my place?"

Lindsey looked up from her work, a small paintbrush poised in her hand. Her face was covered in little specs of paint and she was wearing one of Eliot's t-shirts over her tank top, both of which were covered in paint. The furniture was all pushed against the walls and covered by tarps, which were used as a resting place for a bunch of brushes and small cans of paint. There were several large diagrams spread out all over the floor and hanging from the walls, each of them showing a different angle of the same painting, along with different layers of the paint coloring and some even had enlarged sections of the painting showing how the strokes went. There was an easel set up in the middle of the floor with a large canvas. Only a small corner of the painting was complete, and Lindsey was sitting on one of Eliot's barstools from his kitchen, poised right in front of the easel. She gave an innocent smile to the man before setting the paint brush on the edge of the easel and standing up, wiping her hands on the shirt she was wearing, smearing even more paint across it. Eliot recognized the shirt and winced.

She laughed, walking toward him. "I have work to do too, you know."

He narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, ready to scold her. She cut him off with a finger to his lips, her other hand resting on her hips. "And if you would come apartment shopping with me, you wouldn't have to deal with me working in your living room."

Eliot couldn't say anything to that. Lindsey had been living with him for almost a month now, and his place had been packed. Originally the place was made for half a person. It was an efficiency apartment. The reason Eliot had bought it was because he didn't spend much time at home, he really only needed a place to sleep and sometimes eat. Most of the time he was freelancing, or on a job with his team. However, since Lindsey came to Portland, he had been turning down more freelance jobs in order to spend time with her. He spent more and more time in his small place, and it seemed to shrink every time he entered. His small closet, which was the most crowded area next to the kitchen, was now overflowing with two people's clothing in it. They had to get boxes to fold some clothes in for it all to fit. His bathroom sink had no more room on it, and there seemed to be no place to put anything anymore. Add all that up with the fact that Lindsey had a job that needed a lot of room, and she preferred to work at home, and his place just wasn't big enough. However, Eliot had kept coming up with reasons not to move.

He took a step back to escape Lindsey's finger and rolled his eyes, reaching his hand into the inside pocket of his leather jacket, pulling out a file and handing it to her. "Can you take a look at that? Nate wants your opinion about this job we're gonna take."

Lindsey raised her eyebrow at the obvious change in subject. She turned around and threw the folder on the ground. It landed on top of one of her diagrams of the painting she was working on, making a small thud as it hit the floor. She then turned back around to face Eliot, only to find that he had disappeared into the back room. Lindsey threw up her hands in annoyance and followed him.

"Why do you keep avoiding this?"

He turned to face her, throwing his jacket onto the ground and reaching for the hem of his shirt. "I ain't avoiding it."

Lindsey snorted and started to tick off her fingers. "First, you used safety as an excuse and I agreed with all of your paranoid rules. _Then_ every time I made a date with the real estate agent, you had something more important to do."

"Now…" Eliot started, but Lindsey cut him off.

"I'm not done!" She said. "The one time you _did_ come with me you never even walked inside any of the apartments! Can you please tell me the _real_ reason why you don't want this?"

Eliot sighed, pulling off his tank top then searching around for a shirt to put on. Another glance at Lindsey reminded him that the shirt he had been looking for was another one of the ones that was currently covered in paint. He grabbed another one and pulled it over his head, running his hand through his hair before brushing past her and into the kitchen. Lindsey let out an angry puff and walked into the kitchen, hopping up on the counter because she knew that annoyed him. "Eliot."

"Lin." He reached into the fridge and pulled out a beer.

"Fine. I'll just go and find a place for myself then." She huffed and jumped off the counter, walking toward the front door. Eliot frowned and grabbed her left wrist, pulling her back into the kitchen. "Wait…just wait."

She smirked, glad that her little ruse worked. The man in front of her frowned and looked down at her left hand, his rough finger gently caressing the engagement ring. "I-I'm not ready yet."

Lindsey nodded. She understood. The man lived as a loner for most of his life, even their relationship before the past month was a no-strings-attached kind of deal. He could drop in whenever he wanted to, and pop right back out. If he didn't want to deal with her or needed to get away, all he had to do was walk out the door. If they bought a place together, he couldn't do that anymore. That freedom of no responsibility was enticing, and wasn't something that he was ready to do yet. She gave a forced laugh and stepped back. "Tired of me already?"

He shook his head. "No, it's just a lot to deal with."

Lindsey nodded. "How about this. Come and look at some places. We don't have to buy anything, and if we do, you can still keep this apartment in case you want to get away. Alright?"

Eliot thought about this for a moment. It seemed like a good deal. It wasn't the place that he was so attached to, it was his former lifestyle. "Fine. Now go look at that file, will ya? I'm supposed to call Nate."

Lindsey rolled her eyes and walked over to the living room, picking up the file, but not opening it. "I thought you and Ford got in some kind of fight?"

Eliot followed Lindsey, but doubled back to grab one of his barstools. All the places to sit down were taken by all of her forging stuff, and he didn't feel like standing up. Once he was situated, he answered her question. "Just cause we don't agree don't mean we can't work together."

Lindsey rolled her eyes and shrugged, opening the file. "What's the scoop?"

"It's all right there." He said, pointing to the papers inside of the file.

"I'm more of an audio learner." She retorted, causing Eliot to snort.

"Audio my ass." He mumbled, but explained it all the same. "The guy's name is Joseph Chester. He shows of some priceless artwork he just obtains, sells it to the highest bidder, and then swaps the real one for a fake right before the sale. Few years later, that same painting shows up on the other side of the world, and he sells it again."

Lindsey raised her eyebrows, using the file to fan herself. "Sweet scam. Reminds me of this forger I once knew." She paused. "You know who he gets to do the work?"

Eliot shrugged. "That's what Nate wanted you to look at." He gestured impatiently at the file. Lindsey got the hint and opened it, staring intensely at the pictures of the paintings that were lying in her hands. Her eyes stared at one spot on the photos for a moment before turning the page to look for another. For a few moments she did this, until a pattern started forming in her head. Then, she hopped off the barstool and looked around for a free space on the floor. Finding none, she rushed into the bedroom, where she laid out the pictures on the bed. Eliot came in and stood in the background watching her, trying to make sense of it all. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

About ten minutes past, neither of them saying a thing, the only sound was that of paper as it swished through the air as Lindsey arranged and re-arranged them. Then, she stood up, a bright look on her face. "Charlie's back!"

Eliot stared at her for a moment, a confused look on his face. "Who the hell is Charlie?"

_Lindsey lay belly-up on the small twin bed in Eliot's room, closing her eyes as she heard the shower turn on in the even smaller bathroom connected to the bedroom. She had only been there a week, and already the place was too small to stand. Lindsey had found herself leaving early in the morning and not coming back until late at night, finding more and more stuff to do in order to stay away from the place. She didn't want to push Eliot into finding a new place, but she could swear she was becoming claustrophobic._

_After only a few minutes, Lindsey was bored. She sat up on the bed and slid off, her feet making a dull thud as she hit the floor. She looked around, trying to find something to do. She zeroed in on the closet and shot a sneaky glance at the bathroom door before tiptoeing over to the area in question. She silently opened the closet door and pushed aside a few clothing items hung on hangers until she found what she was looking for: a square brown box._

_She had seen the thing when she was integrating her clothing items that she had just bought with Eliot's pre-existing ones. Since all her belongings had been lost when her old place blew up, she had to go out and get new ones. It had taken a full day and Sophie's help, but she managed to walk out of the store with a lot of nice cloths. The money amount spent will not be disclosed. _

_Lindsey had been really curious about the box, but didn't ask Eliot about it. The thing had no markings, and barely looked like it had been open. Lindsey looked over her shoulder one more time before sitting down on the floor, dragging the box out of the closet and onto her lap. She slowly opened the flaps of the box, peeking inside to see what was hidden._

_She gasped as she stared at the articles in the box. On the top, neatly folded, was a military uniform. Lindsey pulled out the top and gave a small smile as she read the name on the tag. 'Spencer.' The uniform was decorated with a few bars along with several other small patches that meant nothing to Lindsey. She refolded the uniform and reached into the box for more. Out came the pants to the uniform, which she gently placed aside. In the bottom of the box were a few pictures and a velvet container that was built to house medals. There was also a personnel file underneath it all. Lindsey ignored the file at first, focusing solely on the pictures. Eliot was in every single one of the, wearing his uniform and actually smiling at the camera. He was so young, not even in his twenties, Lindsey guessed. His hair was cut short military style, making it difficult to recognize him. But those eyes had the same determination and courage in them. The only thing missing was the darkness that loomed along the edges of his eyes, telling the watcher about the things the man had seen. She flipped through the old photo's, smiling at some, laughing at others. There was one where Eliot and a few other guys were having a contest to see who had the biggest muscles. She lingered a bit longer on that one before setting it too aside. The final two photos were the ones that hit her the most. The first one was Eliot and three other guys, all of which were in the other pictures. There were all in a line, shoulder to shoulder, different types of small arms in their hands. Lindsey was unable to identify what kind of guns they were, but she did know one thing. Eliot was holding one. _

_She was so engrossed in the picture that she didn't hear the water for the shower turn off, nor the sound of the bathroom door opening, or the near-silent footsteps of her husband as the man walked closer. "You could' a asked."_

_Lindsey jumped and quickly sat the photo's down, turned around to see Eliot standing not even five feet behind her. "I…I didn't think you wanted me to see."_

_Eliot narrowed his eyes as he ran one hand through his dripping wet hair. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, leaving the rest of his body bare. "So you look at it while I'm in the shower?"_

_Lindsey had to admit, it hadn't been the best of her ideas. She went to make another excuse, but Eliot shook his head, reaching into the closet to grab a pair of jeans. He disappeared back into the bathroom for a moment, and reappeared, this time jeans on his bottom half. He sat down on the floor next to Lindsey and picked up the picture where he was holding a firearm. "That there was my team. We were the best."_

_His eyes were clouded with past thoughts. Lindsey looked at the picture for a moment. "What did you do?"_

_Eliot gave a short, harsh laugh. "They called us 'retrieval specialists.' They sent us into hostage situations to retrieve back our comrades."_

_Lindsey gave a small laugh, understanding Eliot's slight sarcasm in his voice. "The title stuck, huh?"_

"_Damn right."_

_Lindsey paused before picking up the final picture. In it, Eliot was standing there in his uniform receiving a medal. The same case was in that picture that was sitting in the bottom of the box. But there was something different about the way he looked in this picture compared to all the others. That darkness. It was there._

"_What happened?" Her voice was hesitant, almost scared to ask. Eliot closed his eyes and breathed a few times. "It was supposed to be a normal mission. Get in, get our guy, and get out. But somehow they knew we were coming. Bastards set up an ambush."_

_He paused for a moment. His voice was a whisper, and Lindsey had to lean in to hear his words. "I was the only one who made it out. And you want to know the worst thing? I could have saved them. Saved them all."_

"_How? How could you have stopped an ambush?" Lindsey tried to be supportive. She wanted to know why Eliot blamed himself, because she saw all the hurt and pain behind his eyes as he talked. "Cause I was the one who spotted the lookout. Could've taken him out with a single bullet."_

_Another pause. "I raised my gun, clicked off the safety. The guy spotted me; it was only seconds before he sounded the alarm. So I pulled the trigger…and nothing happened."_

_His voice started to break up, and Lindsey wasn't sure if the drops on his face were water from the shower or tears from his eyes. "It jammed. The damn gun jammed."_

_Eliot stood up and threw the pictures onto the ground violently before leaving the room. Lindsey heard him shuffle around for a few moments before slamming the front door, presumably going down to the gym. Lindsey sat there, shocked for a few moments, before making the move to pick the strewn out items up. She placed them back in the box, pausing as she saw a small glint of metal in the corner of the cardboard. She pulled at it, and found out that it was the beginning of a chain, attached to which were dog tags. She pulled them up close and read the letters pounded into the metal. 'Eliot Spencer. Retrieval Specialist.'_

_Lindsey gave a small smile and went to put the dog tags in the box. However, she changed her mind at the last second, and instead kept them in her hand as she closed the box and returned it to its original position in the closet. Lindsey walked back over to their bed, staring at the tags while she took the few short steps. Then, she leaned over and placed them on Eliot's nightstand before exiting the room, closing the door behind her._

_She noticed when the tags disappeared from the nightstand. She also noticed when they reappeared around Eliot's neck._

"Charlie. That's what he went by almost a decade ago, before he disappeared." Lindsey explained to her audience. Eliot had driven the both of them over to Nate's place once Lindsey had made an extremely enthusiastic ID on their mark. Quick hello's had been made between Lindsey and the team, including Hardison making some snarky comment, Parker asking how Mr. Tibbles went, and Sophie filling the couple in on her preparations for their mini post-'marriage' celebration she was planning against Eliot's will. Once that was over with, the group migrated to the conference room, where Lindsey was filling them in.

"He is the best forger ever known, other than me, of course." She added the last half of the sentence as an afterthought, earning an eye roll from the hitter. "His style is similar to my own, only he liked more…eccentric masterpieces, to put it kindly. He specializes mostly in artwork. Tends to stay away from document, money, IDs, and other stuff like that. We worked a few jobs another lifetime ago, he'd paint the masterpieces, I'd make the documents to make hem legit. Wonderful thing."

"He's been living as Joseph Chester the past nine years. About the time you said this Charlie disappeared." Nate spoke up.

Lindsey nodded. "Yeah. I thought he got killed. Our last job didn't exactly go smoothly."

"Our?" Eliot grumbled, causing Hardison to laugh. "Jealous?"

The hitter went to make a remark about how easy it was for bones to break, but was stopped by a harsh look from Nathan. Lindsey smirked and continued. "This kind of scam seems like his thing. Showy, high risk, high reward."

"Sound's likes someone we know." Hardison kept pushing Eliot, giving him a snarky grin.

"Shut up Hardison." Eliot growled, unable to come up with anything more original.

"He's smart, clever, smooth, and knows what he wants." Lindsey finished, still talking about paintings.

Hardison couldn't resist one more jib. "_Exactly_ what he wants."

"That's it." Eliot growled, closing the distance between him and the hacker in two steps. He grabbed the keyboard out of the man's hands and made the movement to break it over his knee. Hardison let out a very un-manly like squeak of horror.

"Stop it, both of you." Nate said firmly. Eliot huffed and threw the keyboard at Hardison, causing the man to jump. Lindsey held back a laugh as she dismissed herself from the front of the room.

Nate stood up and took his normal spot. "So we have a world class art forger on our hands who knows what he's doing. Sounds right up our alley." He turned to Lindsey. "We'll need your help on this one, I want you to introduce Sophie to Mr. Chester at an art auction he'll be at next week."

Lindsey's face broke out into a large grin. "I'd love to! Always wanted to be a part of your guy's team since Eliot told me about you."

Sophie smiled and stood up, taking Lindsey's arm with her hand. "Come on, I have so much to tell you!"

"Parker." Nate acknowledged the thief. "I want you and Hardison to do recon. I want to know everything there is to know about this auction and the building it's being held in. Also, Hardison, get Lindsey a cover story."

The two nodded and left to get to work, leaving only Eliot and Nate in the room. They stared at each other for a moment, the tension they had toward each other slowly rising to the surface. "I want to be in the same room as Lindsey this whole time."

Nate nodded slightly. "You won't go around half-cocked since she's you '_wife'_ will you?" He asked, a slight mocking tone in his voice.

Eliot narrowed his eyes. "You do your job, and I won't have to."

The man turned on his heels and walked out of the room before Nate had enough time to respond. He wanted to fix this little brawl he was having with the man, but he had more important things to do.

Taking down a world class art forger, for example.

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**So, what do you think? Worthy enough to be a sequel to Old Haunts? Hope so. Here you get a look into my reason why Eliot hates guns, along with some hints of apartment shopping fluffiness in the future, and wedding parties. All that, plus tension between team-mates, old flames, and...jealousy? **

**Reviews make me write faster. I will update as soon as I finish the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Here you go, another chapter! I must really love you guys. this one is dedicated to RunningRiot. Thanks to all of my reviewers and silent stalkers, keep it up! Anyone see the season finale? Loved it, but something isn't right with that Tara girl. Personally, I don't like her. I miss Sophie....is it January yet?**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Leverage, Eliot would have his own clothing line.**

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"Where the hell are you?" Eliot spoke into his cell phone, which he had pressed tightly against his ear as he used his free hands to adjust his tie in his bathroom mirror. It was about an hour and a half before everyone was suppose to convene at Nate's apartment for a last minute brief about the plan that night. It had already been pounded in everyone's head, and Eliot had made sure to quiz Lindsey about her small role every chance he got. Now, it was coming down to the wire, and his girl was nowhere to be seen. He had given up waiting for her about an hour ago and had gone to pick up his suit from the men's clothing store down the street.

"_That's a nice greeting."_

"I'm serious, Lin." Eliot growled, grabbing his bag full of the goodies he needed that night before heading out the door, now using one of his hands to hold to the phone. "We need to get going."

He could almost see Lindsey rolling her eyes. _"We have plenty of time. Plus, I have something I want to show you."_

Eliot checked the time and sighed. "Fine, where you at?"

He grabbed a piece of scrap paper and a pen and quickly wrote down the address before hanging up. The woman always kept him on his toes, that was for sure.

He got where Lindsey asked him to meet him in less than five minutes. The outside of the building looked really fancy, and the sign out front caused Eliot to elicit a loud groan. It was an apartment complex, and from the looks of it, one of those modern expensive apartment complexes where the housing takes up a whole floor. Eliot was a simple guy when it came to housing arrangements. A bed, kitchen, and shower and he was good to go. Women, on the other hand, needed a lot more.

Eliot got out of the car and jogged inside, his bag slung over his shoulder. He stopped at the front desk and got the room number that Lindsey was looking at. It was filed under his last name, so it wasn't that hard to guess. He took the elevator, listening to the dull music until the doors dinged open. The place in question was all the way at the end of the hallway, just like his efficiency apartment. Eliot tried the door and found it unlocked. Holding a doubtful breath, he stepped inside.

The living room was the first thing he set eyes on, and Eliot immediately liked it. Contrasting the building itself, the room had an almost homey feeling radiating around it. There was a three-person couch situated in the middle of the room, with a love seat to one side and a recliner on the other. There was a small flat screen plasma television anchored to the wall, and a large glass coffee table placed directly in front of the large couch. The walls were a neutral color, and there was no funky art anywhere. Eliot walked over to the couch and set his bag on the coffee table before venturing forward. Connected to the living room through a doorway –minus a door– was a beautiful kitchen. It wasn't huge and magnificent, nor was it the dinky thing he had in his current apartment. It was an average kitchen. There was a marble counter running almost all the way around the room, stopping only to allow the access of the doorway, fridge, pantry, stove, and oven. The oven was stacked under the stove, and there were cupboards running all the way around, a long with a small walk in pantry. The room was long and narrow, two people would be able to walk shoulder by shoulder down the middle, but there would be room for nothing else.

That was where Lindsey found Eliot, inspecting the cupboards and counter top. She leaned on the doorway, waiting for him to notice her. She hadn't seen Eliot in a suit very many times, and was enjoying the show. He was wearing a classic black two-piece suit with a white dress shirt underneath, paired with a dark blue tie. His hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, and she smirked at that sight.

Soon, Eliot was finished with his browsing and turned around, ready to face Lindsey. However, what he saw stopped him in his tracks. She was wearing a deep red dress that fell just below her knees, and followed her curves. The dress was cut straight across, the sleeves falling off her shoulders. She had her hair half pulled up in a bun, while the rest lay straightened on her shoulders. She was wearing silver earrings and several small bracelets, along with a dainty silver necklace. Eliot whistled, and raised his eyebrow. "Hello there, darlin. Where have you been?"

Lindsey rolled her eyes and placed her hand on her hip. "You clean up nice yourself."

Eliot gave a cocky smirk and Lindsey laughed, beckoning to him. "Come on, you have to see the rest of the apartment."

Eliot could only follow along, watching her turn around and walk away. She really was beautiful in the dress, and that thought started to nag at him. "Wasn't the plan to introduce Sophie?"

Lindsey frowned. "and…"

"Well…" Eliot gestured toward her dress. "That's more of a 'come and get me' dress."

Lindsey snorted. "Is someone jealous?"

Eliot narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms on his chest. "Hell no."

The couple walked down a short hallway where there were two rooms branching off. Lindsey pointed to the right. "This is the main bedroom, with a full bathroom. The other door leads to a spare room and a half bathroom."

Eliot nodded and peeked a look inside, not really interested in the rest of the place. He liked it, and wouldn't object to living in it. He would have to get Hardison to come by later and install some kind of alarm system or something, plus Eliot would have his own measures. The man glanced at the time. "We gotta go, Lin."

"Ooh, you get real serious on a job, you know that?" Lindsey joked, nodding in understanding. She would have to talk to him about buying the place later. She just wanted to get the picture in the man's mind before they went into the con. "I'm kinda nervous, I've never had this size of a role before."

Eliot chuckled. "Don't worry sweetheart. I'll be in the room at all times, and you will have Sophie and Nate telling you what to say the whole time."

Lindsey's nose wrinkled up. "Not sure if that's a good thing…"

Eliot snorted and leaned over, capturing Lindsey's lips in a kiss. She responded eagerly, but pulled back when he started to twist his hand into her hair. "It took me an hour to do that, you aren't messing it up."

Eliot would have pouted, but he wasn't sure how to do that. Instead, he settled with crossing his arms. "As long as I get to take it out."

Lindsey smirked and grabbed Eliot's tie, teasingly playing with it. "Deal."

Eliot smirked in triumph and mentioned toward the door. Lindsey nodded and turned, starting to walk away. Then, she stopped and went back to Eliot, her fingers playing with her engagement ring. She slowly slid it off her finger and handed it to Eliot. "Hold on to this for me?"

Eliot stood there, rooted in place for several minutes, just staring at the ring in his hand. Then, he took one last look at the apartment around him and, shaking his head, he thread the ring onto his necklace with the dog tags, and let the room. It was time to go to work.

_Lindsey had had better days. It was near midnight, and she was waiting in some old building for her client to show up. It had been a strange request, meeting her in a secluded area. If course, it sent up red flags all over Lindsey's radar, but she couldn't exactly say no. So she went, the briefcase with the forged items sitting next to the chair she was situated in. Her coat zipped closed in order to hide the small gun in her pocket, which she fingered nervously. Her foot tapped lightly on the floor, her boots making a hollow sound. Her hair was down around her shoulder, it was black this time. She checked her watch with her other hand, grunting in annoyance as she saw the time. Her client, whoever it was, was over an hour late. She stood up and grabbed the case, ready to make her way her place, when the door in front of her opened. She smiled and put the briefcase down. "Took you long enough."_

_She looked up at the person who just entered the room, a look of shock crossing her face. "Eliot?"_

_The man at the doorway had the same look on his face. He crossed his arms on his chest and leaned against the doorway. "Hello sweetheart."_

"_What…what are you doing here? I have a trade going on! My clients going to be here any minute. I know I said you can drop in whenever, but I didn't mean now."_

_Eliot, a look of disbelief on his face, pushed himself off the door and walked into the room, pointing an accusing finger at Lindsey. "What the hell are you talkin' 'bout? This is my trade, I'm on a job."_

_Lindsey opened her mouth, trying to form words. However, none found themselves able to come out of her mouth, so she closed them. Finally, she managed to say something. "Who hired you?"_

_Eliot shook his head, running his hand through his hair as he shrugged his shoulders. "Some Hendriks dude. Said he wanted me to intercept a package that would be here tonight."_

"_That ass!" Lindsey swore, causing Eliot to take a step back. "That man called me, wanting a mold for this priceless statue."_

_Eliot started to chuckle. "You were played, darlin.'"_

_Lindsey shot him a look. "Don't you 'darlin' me, Spencer."_

_He held his hands up in defeat, before dropping them down to his sides. "If you could just give me the mold, sweetheart, I'll be on my way."_

_Lindsey looked at him like he had two heads. "You can have it when I get my ten grand."_

_Eliot growled. "He promised you ten grand? I'm only getting' five."_

"_Ha!" Lindsey pointed at him triumphantly._

_Eliot placed his hands on his hips in aggravation and let out a large sigh. "I ain't goin' nowhere 'till I get that mold."_

"_Yeah, and I'm not going anywhere 'till I get paid." Lindsey retorted, pulling the gun out of her pocket and aiming it at Eliot, her finger starting to press down on the trigger._

_Eliot sighed and put his hands up in the air. "Is that how it's gonna be?"_

_Lindsey narrowed her eyes and gestured toward the door with the gun. Eliot shook his head, then started to stare down the barrel of the gun, his head tilted sideways in thought. Lindsey hesitated, wondering what he was thinking. "What?"_

_Eliot shrugged, using the gesture to take half a step forward. "Nuthin.' Just didn't expect you to use hollow points. Good choice."_

_Lindsey frowned and slackened her grip on the gun. "How did you know–"_

_She was cut off when Eliot's hands came down on either side of the gun. He twisted his arms, causing the gun to fly out of Lindsey's hands. She gasped and tried to pull back, but Eliot already had a strong grip on her wrists. She struggled for a few seconds, the hitter just standing there, a smug grin on his face. She realized soon enough that resistance was futile, so she calmed down, her arms going limp in his hands. However, her face still portrayed defiance, and Eliot chuckled at the sight. He pulled her in closer and brushed her lips with his. Lindsey smiled under his touch and kissed back, feeling his hands as they left her wrists and traveled up her arms until they were holding her shoulders, pressing her closer against him. Her arms now free, she let them wander, slipping one hand into his long hair, the other hooking itself around his belt. _

_Lindsey took a step forward, forcing Eliot to back up. Her lips continued to move against his as she took another step. Eliot backed up once more, the back of his legs running into the chair that had been sitting in the middle of the room. He let out a grunt of surprise as he was ripped from Lindsey grasp and fell backwards over the chair. He lay on the ground, a look of surprise on his face as he propped himself up with his elbows. Eliot scrambled to get up as Lindsey picked up the briefcase. She paused as he got back to his feet, giggling at the sight. She glanced at the case in her hand, debating something in her head as Eliot stood there, unsure of what to do next. He watched as she shrugged and held the briefcase out. He stepped forward to take it, but she pulled back. "Two and a half grand, plus dinner and a movie."_

_Eliot smirked and took the case, sealing the deal. Lindsey picked her gun up off the ground and switched the safety on before returning it to her pocket. The couple walked out of the building, Lindsey slipping her hand into Eliot's as they walked. She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Say hi to Hendriks for me, will you?"_

The room was crowded with people, all wearing dainty clothes, holding glasses of champagne as they floated from one masterpiece to the next. Some moved in groups, whispering lowly among themselves about the paintings, statues, and other valued artifacts. Some flew solo, making small notes on little pads or just admiring the work. The pieces up for auction were strategically placed at the edges of the room, allowing room for mingling in the large center. This was where most of the people were, hopping from one group to the next, enjoying the small bits of conversation they were able to pick up. However, not all conversation was about the art.

"_Do you see him?"_ Nate's voice cut into Lindsey's head, causing her to jump slightly. Even though they had practiced what to expect from the ear buds, she still wasn't use to having a literal voice in her head. She started to bring her hand up to her ear to reply, but stopped midway after remembering that she didn't have to touch it to talk. The whole team could hear everything she said. In fact, she was a bit scared to think at the moment, a small, imaginative, part of herself wondering if they could hear her thoughts as well. Her eyes scanned the room and fell on several familiar faces. She saw Eliot standing by a restricted doorway, his shoulders stiff, hands clasped in front of his as his eyes scanned the room. His body had that ridged look to it, and he was playing the role of the security personnel very well. Hardison had even adapted his comm so that it would fit around the security ear bud he had been given as a part of his job. Eliot had gotten the job several days ago, after one of the main security guards mysteriously disappeared.

Lindsey's eyes next saw Parker, her hair pulled back in a sharp ponytail, her waitress outfit allowing her to blend in and be near invisible as she maneuvered her way around the room, serving drinks and checking out the security system at the same time. The thief walked past Lindsey and the woman took one of the champagne glasses, taking a calming sip before continuing her search.

Nate and Sophie were standing off to the side of the crowd, keeping their attention grabbing to a minimum, which would come later. They were entertaining a small group of guests with their knowledge of the painting they were standing in front of. Nate was wearing a classic tuxedo, while Sophie had gone for more of the stunning side of things. She was wearing a black cocktail dress that was sleeveless and fell just short of her knees. Her black heels made her slightly taller than Nate, and her turquoise clutch matched her small jewelry. The grifter had caught Lindsey's eyes and gave a small wink of encouragement, unable to speak to her at the moment. Lindsey saw this and gave an even smaller nod.

Then, her eyes fell upon the man of the hour. Her breath caught slightly in her throat. He had changed a bit in the ten years that she hadn't seen him, but it was in no way for the worst. He still radiated confidence, his dark blue suit screaming defiance against all the other, more classic black suits and tuxedo's roaming the room. His brown hair was slicked back, but a few stubborn pieces were still waving around freely. Just like she remembered, he always had a woman on his arm, whether it was his date or some straggler who noticed that there was something missing from his arm. He had always been better at the public part of life than Lindsey had, and she knew that it still hadn't changed. "Found him."

She heard the faint sound of fingers hitting a keyboard as Hardison played around with the security cameras. Since Nate was unable to give commands, it fell to the hacker. "_What does our little birdie spy?_"

Lindsey stifled a giggle as she heard one of Eliot's trademark growls deep in his throat. _"He's got one man watching him, two more watching his company."_

Lindsey glanced at the people surrounding the other art forger, but was unable to spot anyone who seemed like personal bodyguards. That, at least, had changed about the man. He never had protection following him around ten years ago. She took one big breath and another sip of champagne until she deemed herself ready. She started to walk forward, her heels clicking on the floor as she remembered Sophie's words. 'Be stubborn, make a scene if you have to. Act like you did ten years ago, lull him into a false sense of security.'

Lindsey approached the small crowd that had gathered around the man, and put on a sly smile. "Mr. Chester! Still in the art business, I see."

The tip of the man's mouth turned down in thought, Lindsey's voice sounding familiar. His eyes searched the faces of those closest to him until he set his sights on Lindsey, when a smile broke out onto his face. "Old habits never die."

Lindsey then did what seemed like the normal thing to do. She took another steps forward and embraced the man in a hug. He had unraveled himself from the redhead on his arm and hugged back, the reunion short but sweet. He pulled away, still having a persona to play. "If you will excuse me."

He made his way out of the crowd, Lindsey following behind him. They walked over to a patch of room near one of the less popular places where they could have a small amount of privacy. Then, he held Lindsey at arms length, getting a good look at her. The woman was doing the same. "Never expected to see you here, in Portland of all places."

Lindsey smiled. "I found something worthwhile here." She fought to maintain a straight face when she heard Hardison snorted through the comms.

"_Don't get to comfortable._" She heard Sophie's voice. The woman obviously had gotten away from the crowd long enough to give some pointers. Lindsey almost nodded, but caught herself just in time.

"My dear, I heard you died almost two months ago." He said, his eyebrow rose in curiosity.

She shrugged. "Minerva did, yes. I felt like following a new path. What about Charlie? Haven't heard much from him."

The man gave a small snort. "That man died a long time ago. I go by Joseph now, but I'm pretty sure you knew that."

She nodded, and Joseph continued. "I'm guessing that this meeting wasn't a coincidence?"

Lindsey rolled her eyes. "A bit paranoid, are you? Guess it comes with the job."

"Power can do that to a man."

"So I've heard." Lindsey retorted. This time, it was Nate's turn to cut in. _"Good, now introduce us."_

She cleared her throat. "Actually, I am here for a reason. I found someone interested in one of the paintings being auctioned. Willing to pay a lot of money, and is a bit slack when it comes to inspections. Seemed like the perfect candidate."

"But…" Joseph trailed off. There was always a but with the woman in front of him, that was something he was sure never changed. She smirked. "The husband is a bit more anal."

Joseph crossed his arms. "Why do you need me?"

She shrugged. "You've been doing this kind of thing for the past ten years…don't look so surprised, I'm connected." The truth was she had no idea about his scam until Hardison told her and showed her the trail of electronic transfers to unconnected bank accounts and a pattern that didn't make sense until you knew exactly what you were looking for.

"You want to just hand me a client?" Joseph asked, surprised.

Lindsey snorted. "Hell no."

In her ear, Hardison started to laugh hysterically. "_Eliot, man, she sounded just like you!_"

"_Shut up Hardison._" He growled, but couldn't stop a small smug grin from inching its way onto his face.

Joseph laughed. "What do you have in mind?"

Lindsey placed her champagne glass on the tray of a passing waiter before crossing her arms. "I'll supply the documents, you supply the painting. One more show, no encores."

Joseph raised his eyebrow and smirked. "I hope your don't mind if I don't believe you. You will have to excuse me."

Lindsey's smile fell as one of Joseph's invisible bodyguards made himself seen, advancing on the two. The man grabbed Lindsey's arm and pointed to the woman's room. Lindsey shot a confused look toward Joseph, who shrugged apologetically. "I'm paranoid, my dear. You said it yourself."

Lindsey nodded dumbly and walked into the woman's bathroom. The bodyguard followed behind her, quickly shutting the door. On the outside, another took up post outside the door.

Back inside, the man professionally frisked her, checking for weapons and quickly going through her small purse. Lindsey held her breath, hoping the man didn't find her comm.

"_What the hell's going on! Lin, I'm coming in there._"

"_Eliot, stand down._" That was Nate's voice. _"I think it's just routine. Lindsey will ask for help if she needs it."_

"_You _think_?" _Eliot growled, starting to move toward the door.

Lindsey heard this whole thing, and was frantically trying to find a way out. She crossed her arms. "You done?"

Eliot paused when he heard this. She sounded fine, if not a bit pissed. He retreated to his post, though not happy with the situation.

Lindsey mentally sighed when the hitter didn't come flying through the door. She followed the bodyguard back out to Joseph, the man standing in the exact spot she left him in. "Happy now?"

Joseph took a small step back at the anger in Lindsey's voice. In truth, it was relief mixed with her trying not to give away the fact that she was trying to con him. "Can never be too sure. Let me make it up to you with diner."

Lindsey gave a small smirk, her eyes staring a hole in Joseph's head. "maybe later."

The man nodded and Lindsey dug into her purse until she found a small piece of paper and a pen, which she wrote a number on before handing it to Joseph. "You can reach me there." Joseph took the paper, his hand lingering a bit longer than needed on Lindsey's. She withdrew, then melted into the crowd.

Seconds later, Sophie and Nate approached the man, being led by Lindsey. Sophie extended her hand, a large smile plastered on her face. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Chester! I've been told lots of good things about you from my art contact."

Joseph took Sophie's hand and kissed the top, breaking out his charming grin. "Pleasure."

Nate coughed and intervened. "Yes, well, let's talk business, shall we?"

**--Leverage--**

Lindsey was woken by the slamming of a door. She sat up groggily from the couch and rubbed her eyes, stretching out in a yawn. She turned and saw Eliot walk into the room, his tie undone and slung around his neck, his finger working on unbuttoning his dress shirt. His hair was still pulled up in a ponytail, and an annoyed look was plastered on his face. That look increased in severe ness as he saw Lindsey.

She gave a small wave and stood up from the couch, walking over to Eliot. She had taken a shower and changed out of her cocktail clothes, now wearing a pair of soffe shorts and one of Eliot's t-shirts. She pushed his hands out of the way, taking over the unbuttoning job. But Eliot just crossed his arms, barring the way. Lindsey frowned and took a step back. "What?"

"What the hell was that?" He growled.

Lindsey looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean? I got Sophie and Nate in, didn't I?"

Eliot shook his head. "That ain't the point. Why'd you call me off?"

"Because," Lindsey stressed, not being able to believe that they were having this conversation. "I was fine."

"What if they'd found your comm, huh? What then Lindsey!"

"Then I would have yelled for help, and you could bust in there and punch them!" She yelled, shaking her head. "This is ridiculous. You're being way overprotective."

"I'm just given you what you need, darlin." Eliot retorted.

Lindsey looked at him, thoroughly insulted. "Hey, don't you dare! I didn't need any protection the past seven years, did I? Because you were perfectly fine with leaving me alone whenever you wanted, weren't you!"

Eliot threw his hands up, shaking his head. "You knew I couldn't stay! Don't put this on me."

She pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes. "This was a stupid idea."

Eliot frowned, not sure what Lindsey was talking about. "What was?"

She looked at him. "Working with your team, moving here, thinking things wouldn't change. Everything."

"Lin…" Eliot said, trailing off as he started to feel numb.

She shook her head some more, starting to back away. "It hurt, all those years, having to say goodbye, wondering if I would ever see you again. But it worked. I had you, and you could see me whenever you wanted, leaving when you got tired of me. You never stayed longer than a month, Eliot. Why was I so stupid to think that I could live with you? You've already found a family, you don't need me hanging around screwing it up."

She turned around, disappearing into the back room, emerging several moments later with a real shirt on and a small duffel bag packed with some clothes. She walked up to Eliot and gently kissed him on the lips, lingering for a second before pulling back. "I'll finish this one con, then I'm leaving, and we can go back to how things were."

She then left, closing the door behind her. Eliot stared at the door, his hand unconsciously rising to his neck, where Lindsey's engagement ring hung on the small silver chain.

For the first time, Eliot understood what it felt like to watch someone you loved walk out the door.

* * *

**Don't ask where that last scene came from, cause I don't know. Have to keep ya'll on your toes, you know. Hope you enjoyed the flashback. If you have any situation you want Lindsey and Eliot to be in, let me know. Do you want fluffy, romantic, angsty, etc. You tell me, and I will deliver.**

**Reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Here you go, hot off the press! I literally finished typing this not even five minutes ago. Didn't want to keep you wondering about the little fight. -waggles eyebrows- Thanks so much to my reviewers and silent stalkers, especially SiriusDoctorWhoHoney329 and Meatball42. Luv you guys! **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Leverage it would be January already.**

* * *

Lindsey took yet another large breath as she smoothed down her shirt, which was already smooth. Her foot made a small annoying tapping sound as her leg bounced up and down. She fiddled with her hair, then her necklace, and even her left ring finger, looking at it several times only to see it void of any engagement ring. Then, the circle repeated itself.

She was sitting outside of a small but elegant looking café, waiting for the mark to show up. Nate was there with her to seal the deal, wearing a grey business suit and toting around a briefcase that was more for appearance than function. Lindsey, on the other hand, was wearing entirely different apparel. She was wearing a pair of black jeans, the ends tucked into cowgirl boots that Eliot had bought her a few years ago as a gag gift. She had on a t-shirt over top of two different tank tops, and her hair was straightened, just brushing her shoulders. Her large sunglasses couldn't hide the stress and worry in her eyes, though, and Nate was starting to worry that Lindsey was getting second thoughts.

"Lindsey, focus. We need you focused." Nate said, leaning forward in order to make eye contact. Lindsey just gave a small smile and nodded before going back to her jittery movement. "No second thoughts, ok?"

Lindsey sighed, leaning back in her chair as she ran a hand through her hair. "It's not that."

Nate raised his eyebrow and straightened back up, loosening his tie. If she wasn't worried about the deal, then there was only one other thing she could be worried about, and that one thing happened to have long hair and could kill a man with his pinky. Nate wasn't one for pep talks or personal motivators or anything therapy related. He liked to leave that stuff to Sophie. However, he didn't want Lindsey going into this deal with her mind preoccupied, so he would have to make the small sacrifice. "Alright. What happened."

He said it in the form of a statement instead of a question. Lindsey looked up, surprised that the man would care enough to ask. She shook her head. "I screwed up…I think. I don't know!"

Nate, thinking Lindsey was finished, went to say some encouraging, yet empty words, when Lindsey continued. "I mean…I love it here, and-and I like to think that he likes me here too." The girl stopped fidgeting and stared at her wrists, where if one looked very closely, they could see faint lines going all the way around her wrists. "But…I have nightmares. I _still_ have nightmares. I close my eyes and I see the neon numbers, I hear that bitch's laugh…"

Lindsey gave a short laugh and turned to look at Nathan, her fingers moving slowly toward her face, where she pulled off her sunglasses and stared him straight in the eyes before looking away. "But what do you care. You don't even like me, you-you think Eliot made a mistake."

Nate looked to the ground, staring at his shoes as Lindsey's words burned into his mind. He felt guilty at that moment for how he had acted toward the couple. He had lashed out at Eliot because the man got the one thing that he was too afraid to go after. "I think he didn't think, and he acted the way he did, asking you to marry him, because he was still recovering from what happened."

Lindsey went to say something, but Nate held up his hand. "But I think that he did the right thing. He's lucky that you waited all those years for him."

Lindsey gave a small smile at this, nodding at the older man. "Sophie's still waiting."

The mastermind looked up at Lindsey's eyes, and the two exchanged a smile. It wasn't an apology from Nate, but it was what was needed. "You should stay. You know, they need you. The team. Eliot too."

Lindsey snorted and pushed her sunglasses back on, the moment having passed. Nate sat back in his seat and folded his hands in his lap. A soothing silence ensued, until their mark arrived.

Joseph Chester came walking down the street, a smug and arrogant look plastered on his face. Walking with his was two of his ever-present bodyguards, this time around not trying so hard to blend in. Each of them was wearing a cheap black suit, combo-ed with a tie. The man himself was wearing a beige-colored Armani tailored suit, along with leather shoes. All together, it was your classic rich guy and meathead picture.

Joseph smiled as he approached the table, taking it upon himself to pull out the remaining chair and sitting down. His bodyguards remained standing, their tall forms casting a shadow over the table. Lindsey mentally cringed, but kept on a smile, waving the tips of her fingers at the burly men. Nate just raised his eyebrow and turned his attention to Joseph.

"I drew up the papers last night…" Nate drifted off, making a show of rifling through his briefcase before pulling out a few sheets of paper that were stapled together. He slid them across the table to Joseph, who picked them up, his eyes quickly scanning the words before ripping the documents in half. He then gave a smile. "That wont be necessary, the deal's off."

Lindsey widened her eyes at the man in shock, while Nate decided to go for a hysteric approach. "Mr. Chester, we had a deal! My wife and I were going to pay you 2 million dollars for that painting!"

Nate made gestures with his arms, and Joseph held up his finger to silence the man. Nate went on for a few seconds longer before finally quieting down. "I understand your aggravation. However, this conversation is over."

The man made a subtle sign to his bodyguards, which took up post on either side of Nate's chair. The ex-insurance investigator's mind raced as he thought of an out. He didn't want to leave Lindsey alone with the man, but it seemed like that was his only option. Nate threw up his hands in defeat and scooted his chair back before standing up. "Alright, alright. I'm going."

He shot a look at Lindsey. "You'll be hearing from me."

Lindsey just nodded and waved him off, watching in silent horror as Nate walked away from the café. Now it was just her, Joseph, and the two bodyguards. Lindsey leaned over across the table and hissed. "What the hell was that!"

Joseph just leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I got pinged."

Lindsey frowned, her brows knitting together. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The feds are closing in on me. Somehow they figured out my pattern."

Lindsey stared at him with disbelief, wondering if what the man was saying was true, or if it was just his paranoia talking. "Listen, Joseph…no, Charlie. That's impossible. You said so yourself, you run a tight ship."

The man shrugged. "Maybe so. I'm not worried though. I have it all planned out."

Lindsey nodded and watched as Joseph leaned in closer. She copied him. "I'm going to retire."

"Huh?"

Joseph smiled as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I have over 200 million dollars in masterpieces hidden away. Over the past ten years, I was only able to get about 300, half of which was spent running my whole operation. I'm going to have one huge auction, and sell everything, for real this time. No black market, everything totally legal."

Lindsey couldn't believe what she was hearing. The man in front of her wanted to retire. The idea itself wasn't uncommon. Eventually, everything got to be too much, the money they made not worth the hassle. Especially in the type of con that Joseph was running. But for _Joseph_ to be the one doing it. Even worse, if he sold everything, there would be nothing to connect him to the frauds, and Nate's team would have nothing to help their client. This whole thing also meant that he wouldn't need her. "So what you are saying is you're cutting me out too? Don't care about that loser, what about _our_ deal?"

She could imagine Nate frowning and the rest of the team laughing at her calling him a loser. Too bad Nate was the one wearing the earpiece.

Joseph shook his head. "No, I'm telling you this because I want you to help me."

Lindsey took a moment to reply, trying to understand what he was saying. "…what?"

Joseph smiled and leaned forward, taking Lindsey's hands in his own. "I know I left you ten years ago, and I was stupid. I want you to give me another chance. Hell, you might find that you miss it."

Lindsey breathed a few times, not trusting herself to speak. Then, she pulled back, almost daring Joseph to tighten his grip on her hands. He didn't and he watched as her hands slid from his grip. "I…I can't."

Joseph frowned a bit at being rejected. "Do you mean can't or won't?"

Lindsey stared at Joseph. "Don't do that."

He shrugged. "Is there something stopping you? Another man, perhaps?"

Lindsey didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. Her eyes had gone directly to her left ring finger, staring at the empty space on her skin. Joseph noticed this and sat back, breathing out a large breath of air. "Fine, don't tell me. Just remember that my offer will still be there when whoever this guy is leaves you. Bet he doesn't even know what you do."

He stood up and pushed the chair under the table a bit forcefully before walking away, his bodyguards following slowly behind. Lindsey looked up and whispered some words once he was out of earshot. "You have no clue."

_Lindsey lay on her side, staring at the wall to the hotel room, enjoying the warmth radiating off of Eliot. The man was lying next to her, his body pressed against her back and his arm encircling her waist, trapping her against him. Lindsey had threaded her fingers around Eliot arm, closing her eyes as she felt his breath on the back of her neck. _

"_Stop it." She mumbled._

"_Stop what?" Eliot breathed, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand straight up._

"_That." Lindsey whined, turning around in the bed. The sheets rustled as her legs got even more tangled in them. "I'm trying to go to sleep."_

_Eliot just smirked and leaned his head forward, nipping Lindsey on the tip of her nose. Lindsey narrowed her eyes playfully and snuggled closer to the man. She put some kisses on his bare chest, her eyes too close to focus on his skin. She felt Eliot's body move uncomfortably and she smiled, her finger following a small scar located on the side of his stomach. "So many scars…"_

_Eliot's hand closed over Lindsey's, stopping her from continuing to trace the scar with her thumb. She pulled her head away from his chest and raised her eyebrow, frowning at the hurt look in his eyes. "You ok?"_

_Eliot sighed, letting go of her hand and scooting back a few inches, sitting forward in the bed, using his elbows to prop himself up. The covers fell down to his waist, allowing Lindsey to get a real look at that scar. _

_He had a few of them randomly etched into his skin; a lot less than Lindsey would have thought that a man in his profession would have. Yet again, Eliot was one of the best. Scars were reminders of mistakes made, and the hitter in front of her didn't make many. She had seen them all before, but never really took time to study them. Normally, she had other things in mind when Eliot didn't have his shirt on. _

_Lindsey sat up a little as well, using one of her hands to pull up Eliot's shirtsleeve, which had fallen off of her shoulder. She had long ago stopped wearing normal pajamas to bed; instead she would steal one of Eliot's shirts and wear that to bed. On closer inspection, the scar looked a lot nastier than it felt. The line was thin but jagged, and very faint. _

"_Knife wound, Bosnia, few years ago." Eliot said, his voice seeming detached. "The guy was one of the few I called a friend." He snorted. "Turned out he was playing the other side. I got a knife wound, everyone else in the room got their throats cut."_

_Lindsey winced as the mental image entered her brain. Then, getting an idea, she leaned down and gently kissed the side of his stomach, his skin warm to the touch. Her lips just brushed the skin, causing Eliot's eyes to close. She smirked and lay back down in the bed, her hands laced behind her head. _

_Eliot frowned and leaned back down in the bed next to her. "What was that?"_

_Lindsey shrugged. "I was kissing it better."_

_The ends of Eliot's mouth turned up a bit at that. Then, he pointed at a faint scar on his upper lip. "This one's been giving me problems lately."_

_Lindsey rolled her eyes, but leaned in all the same, once again her lips just ghosting over his skin. "Anyplace else?"_

_Eliot thought a moment, and then pointed to a spot right above his left eye, where a relatively new scar sat. She kissed that one the same way, lingering just a bit longer than the other times. Eliot shifted under her lips, pulling his head away before placing his finger on his lips, an expectant and ornery look on his face. Lindsey smiled and kissed his lips. She went to pull away, but was stopped as Eliot's hand snaked around to the back of her head, holding it in place. He deepened the kiss and rolled over so that he was situated on top of her. Lindsey deepened the kiss, twisting her hands into his long locks._

_They broke for air, Lindsey looking straight up at Eliot. "Feeling better?"_

Eliot was sitting in one of the booth tables in John McRory's Place, nursing a beer and waiting for the call from one of his teammates, telling him that he was needed upstairs. Eliot had been a bit distant since the other night, even though Sophie was the only one to notice it. He had been a bit more grumpy than usual, and had snapped at Hardison on several occasions. The grifter was the only one who connected Eliot' mood with the fact that Lindsey was no where in sight, and when the hitter was asked about her, all he would do was shrug and grunt. Unable to sit and try to act normal any longer, Eliot had excused himself from the room, telling Hardison that he would be downstairs if they needed him. He didn't feel like watching as Lindsey flirted with their mark. In the hallway Sophie, who had followed him out, stopped him.

"What happened between you two?" She had asked in that totally Sophie way of hers. Eliot had shrugged it off and tried to walk past the grifter, but she had stopped him. "We can do this the easy or the hard way."

Eliot could have done a number of things. He could have just brushed past her, or even picked her up and moved her aside. But he did neither of these things. He was tired of keeping his tough-guy persona going when on the inside all he wanted to do was go and get drunk somewhere and pretend that his life wasn't complicated. So his shoulders had sagged and his eyes had turned toward the floorboards. "Lindsey's gonna leave."

Sophie had reacted with surprise, her hand automatically going to the hitter's shoulder in comfort. She didn't say anything, one thing he was grateful for, they stood there like that for several seconds until Eliot mustered up enough courage to ask for help. "What do I do?"

Sophie had given a small, motherly smile. "Convince her to stay. Because God help you if I have to cancel your wedding party."

And that was all Eliot needed to hear. Sophie had promised him to keep the others upstairs in Nate's apartment so Eliot could get to Lindsey first and have a small talk with her. He had pulled out his cell phone on the way down to the bar, making a call before approaching the bartender and ordering a beer.

He looked up from where he was sitting as the front door swung open and Lindsey entered the bar, heading straight to the elevators. She stopped and changed her path, however, when she saw Eliot sitting in one of the booths. The man stood up as she approached him, opening his mouth to talk to her. Lindsey cut him off with a kiss, her lips pressing against his. Then, she pulled back, leaving Eliot standing there, his brain trying to catch up. "I'm so sorry, can this wait until later?"

Eliot could only manage to nod his head in reply and follow behind her as they made their way up to Nate's apartment. They got to the door and Lindsey went to pull on the door when Eliot grabbed her arm, preventing her from turning the knob. "Hold on a second, what the hells goin' on?"

Lindsey sighed and gently removed her arm from his grasp. "Chester's cleaning up."

Eliot frowned. "You mean _cleaning_ _up_…" He drew his hand across his throat. "…Or just cleaning out."

Lindsey frowned and shrugged, biting her bottom lip. "I dunno."

"Oh." Eliot commented, stepping aside so that Lindsey could enter the room. The rest of the team was standing there, and they all looked up when she arrived. Sophie gave a small smile as she watched Eliot enter behind Lindsey.

"What happened?" Nate asked.

Lindsey shook her head. "Chester's "retiring," He's going to auction off the original paintings and go legal with the money."

"Whoa…wait, that's not good." Hardison said, making a stopping motion with his hands.

"If he gets rid of all the evidence, then we can never nail him." Sophie muttered, voicing all of their thoughts.

Nate frowned and started to pace. "Did he say when?"

Lindsey shook her head, and Sophie spoke up. "He would probably want to get rid of them, I would put money on sometime this week."

"There has to be a way in." Nate muttered to himself, causing Lindsey to rock guiltily on her feet. "Um…he did mention something else…"

This caught their attention. "What'd he say?" Parker asked, her curiosity peaked.

Lindsey shot a quick look at Eliot. "He wanted me to go with him."

The silence that followed was broken when Hardison let out a long whistle. Eliot tightened his hands and growled, sending a look that would kill toward the hacker, shutting the man up. Parker giggled, and Nate got a look on his face. The look that was normally followed up by an ingenious plan. "Lindsey, call Chester and tell him yes. That's our in."

"No."

Nate looked up in surprise, but it wasn't Lindsey who had spoken out, it was Eliot. He had stepped in front of her and an angry look was burning in his eyes.

"Excuse me?" Nate asked, leaning forward as if he didn't hear Eliot clearly.

"You heard me." Eliot growled. "No, find another way."

Lindsey frowned and put her hand on Eliot's forcefully pushing him aside. "Yeah, I'm still here people."

"You're not doin' this." Eliot said, turning to face her. But Lindsey didn't back down. "This guy is going to get rid of everything. I _have_ to do this."

Eliot shook his head, but Lindsey grabbed his hands. "I don't like this anymore than you do. It's just for the con."

Eliot frowned, but didn't pull away. He knew she was right; there really wasn't another way. Plus, it wasn't like she was going to run away with him for real. It was just so that she could get inside information so that Nate could plan the next step to take the guy down.

Sophie suddenly cleared her throat, getting the attention of the other three in the room. "Um, I'm going to go downstairs to get a drink."

Nate caught her drift and nodded. "I'll come with you."

Hardison closed his laptop, standing up. "Yeah, and I just remembered that I have something to do….over there. Parker, come help me, girl."

Parker frowned. "Do what?"

The hacker just rolled his eyes and grabbed Parker's arm, whispering something in her ear. The blonde's eyes widened. "Oh! Ok." Her voice grew real loud. "I'm going to go leave with Hardison, leaving you two alone…by yourselves…"

Hardison dragged the girl out of the room, and Lindsey snorted. Eliot just rolled his eyes. "There's somethin' wrong with her."

Lindsey smiled and pulled the hitter into a large hug. He hesitated before wrapping his arms around her, closing his eyes and enjoying the closeness. "I-I'm sorry." Lindsey whispered into his chest. Eliot shook his head and breathed in the scent of her hair, kissing the top of her head. "It's alright, darlin.'"

But Lindsey took a step back, shaking her head and hugging herself. "No, it's not. I should have told you, but I was so stupid…"

Eliot frowned, grabbing on to Lindsey's shoulders and looking her in the eye. "What are talkin' 'bout?"

She frowned and shook her head, walking over to the couch before collapsing on it, pulling her legs up to her body. Eliot followed and sat across from her, worry and confusion etched onto his face. "There-there was a note on your bed that day I first saw your place. It…was from that woman."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Lindsey winced at Eliot's voice. "I didn't want you to know. I thought I could just forget about it…but I can't."

She started to cry, and Eliot pulled her into his chest. She didn't try to pull away, curling into him, her hands grabbing fistfuls of his t-shirt. "I couldn't get those images out of my head, Eliot. I can't get rid of her! Sometimes I hear that damn ticking teasing me."

Eliot mentally scolded himself. He should have known that she would be affected by the whole kidnapping situation. It had been so long since he had been changed by those kinds of experiences that he forgot how traumatizing they could be. It had to be even worse that she hadn't told anyone about it. "What did the note say."

Lindsey didn't say a thing, sitting up and wiping the tears from her eyes as she dug in her pocket for her cell phone.

"Lin."

"I-I need to call Chester."

"Tell me." Eliot said in a no-nonsense tone. Lindsey paused and looked up. "She said she would be back…"

Eliot growled, his hands balling into fists. "If she comes within a mile of you, she won't make it any closer."

Lindsey snorted and leaned forward, capturing Eliot's lips in a kiss. "That's why I love you."

Eliot raised his eyebrow. "Why? Cause I'm violent?"

Lindsey shook her head. "Cause you love me enough to kill someone…that, and your hair."

Eliot smirked. "Chicks dig the hair."

They kissed again, this time a bit longer. They pulled away soon after. "I need to call him."

Eliot nodded, rubbing Lindsey's arms. "You gonna be alright sweetheart?"

Lindsey started to nod her head, but paused, and changed it to a shake. "No, but it can wait."

Eliot smiled and leaned forward, kissing Lindsey's forehead while his fingers worked on unclasping the necklace around his neck. He unthreaded the engagement ring from the chain and put it back on her finger. "That's my girl."

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**Does this make any of you feel better? Haha. Hope it was ok, I rewrote that first scene about four times. There is about one, possibly two more chapters, depending on how it all pans out. Reviews will make it go faster and create more chapters!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: So sorry it took me so long to update, school has been taking all of my time, and when my brain says sleep, I can do nothing but comply. I hope this makes up for the wait though. Special thanks to my reviewers and silent stalkers, keep 'em coming!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Leverage, I would hire some nerdy smart guy to build a time machine so the whole word could jump forward to January.**

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Lindsey smiled at the man whose arm she was currently leaning on, laughing at the silly little jokes he was telling. The men and women surrounding them laughed as well, going along with the flow of things. Everyone was wearing tailored suits and cocktail dresses, looking their best for the evening. Lindsey herself was wearing a simple black dress that hung loosely from her hips and stopped short an inch or two below her knees.

She took a moment to look around the room, taking a moment to glance at each of the twelve paintings sitting on their pedestals, looking for the entire world like million dollar masterpieces. She smiled happily at this thought before returning her attention back to her date. He had unraveled himself from her grasp in order to go off to the side and talk with the head of security, who didn't look very happy. Lindsey just rolled her eyes and grabbed a small glass of champagne before walking over to the two men, placing her free hand on her hip. "You're supposed to be mingling."

Joseph Chester turned around, his back being previously turned toward Lindsey. He waved off his head of security with a short gesture and smiled at her, leaning in and giving her a short kiss before wrapping his arm possessively around her waist. "My dear, I was just telling my man there that it was time to start the auction."

Lindsey smiled and took a small sip of her champagne. "'Bout time."

**Two Days Earlier**

"Where the _hell_ am I going to get a new head of security!"

Lindsey could hear the man's screech from the other side of the room, and almost pulled out her hair from the noise. She had almost forgotten how annoying Joseph got when things didn't work out for him. Of course, things couldn't have been going any smoother for herself, which caused a small smile to poke through before she took a deep breath and approached the man.

Just as Sophie said, Joseph wanted to get rid of the paintings as soon as possible. Once Lindsey had called him back and was invited to dinner at the house he was renting, Joseph told her all about his plans. He was going to have a large auction on Saturday, which was six days away at the time. Lindsey was a bit surprised at how little time he needed to pull it off, but once she thought about it, everything made sense. What kind of thief in their right mind wouldn't have a backup plan prepared?

He had everything perfected planned, and if everything worked out, he would be a free man living off on some private island for the rest of his days. Of course, it was Lindsey's job to make sure that _nothing_ went according to the plan.

She fed all the information she could back to Nate, who created a counter plan for everything. The first thing to go sour was the reservation that Joseph had made for a banquet hall. The hall had 'accidentally' double booked with a traveling circus, who, when called, would not give up there spot for any amount of bribe money. Once Joseph found a new place to host his party, the decorations for the hall that he ordered had been put on backorder until next Christmas. Someone broke into his house four days before the party, and Joseph's men spent hours looking for what the thief had stolen, until Lindsey had gone to turn on the television and had remarked that the batteries were gone out of the remote. This threw Joseph into an even more paranoid mood, bent on the idea that someone was out to get him. The car he drove around the city wouldn't start, he couldn't seem to get anywhere on time, and sales reps were calling his house by the dozen. Then, the real disaster hit.

Chester's head of security quit. Which was the reason that the man was screaming at the top of his lungs in the banquet hall that day.

Lindsey quickly walked up to Joseph, a patient look hiding her gleeful outlook on the whole situation. "What's going on?"

Joseph looked at Lindsey, a desperate look in his eyes. "What's going on? I'll tell you what's going on. My head of security just quite. Where am I going to find someone to coordinate a whole damn _auction_ in two days!"

Lindsey put up her arms in defense and took a step back before reaching into her back pocket to grab her phone. "Ok, calm down. I can get you some real good guys who could put the whole thing together. It'll be a bit pricey though."

Joseph shook his head. "I can pay the fee. I just want this auction to be ready on Saturday!"

Lindsey gave a reassuring smile and stepped out of the room to make a phone call.

Twenty minutes later, two men in suits and black sunglasses entered the banquet hall. Only one was holding a briefcase, and it looked more like a laptop case than anything else. He was tall and dark-skinned, nodding a bit as he took off his sunglasses and placed them in the inside pocket of his suit. The other man was shorter, but had a deadly air around him. His long hair was pulled back in a ponytail, his black sunglasses staying on even though they were inside. He wasn't carrying anything, but his head was slowly turning left to right around the room, casing the place. They approached Lindsey, who met them at the front door. She gave a small giggle at the sight of them, rolling her eyes at the theatrics. "Sorry boys, casting for Men in Black is the next door over."

Hardison laughed and nodded in a geeky way, posing his fist in mid air. Lindsey connected her fist to his. Then she turned to Eliot, her eyebrow raised. The man then took off his sunglasses, squinting at the abrupt change in lighting. "How is he?"

"Paranoid and unstable."

"Just the way I like 'em." Hardison commented, earning an eye roll from Eliot. Lindsey laughed and gestured toward the door that led to the main hall where Joseph was waiting. "Shall I introduce you?"

The three walked into the main room, Lindsey at the lead. She walked in confident strides, just like Sophie had taught her. However, inside, she was all but confident. She had gotten suddenly nervous when Eliot had arrived. She knew that they had officially 'made up' a week ago, but there were knots that had been left undone. The apologies had been rushed and not whole-hearted, and Eliot hadn't even apologized. Lindsey still felt like there was a large ball of tension in the room whenever her and Eliot were close to each other, and it made her nervous. She wondered if the hitter could feel it like she could, or if she was being overly paranoid from spending so much time with Joseph. Whatever the reason, she needed to talk to Eliot.

"Joseph!" Her voice rang out. "They're here."

Then, Lindsey stepped aside, letting Hardison and Eliot work their magic. Joseph looked up from what he was doing, a frown apparent on his face. His critical eye ran over both of the men, spending a little longer on Eliot, a look of unease quickly flitting across his face. Deciding that he liked what he saw, Joseph offered his hand to the two men. Hardison stepped forward and accepted the handshake gracefully, while Eliot held on a bit longer than normal, his hand squeezing just a bit more than needed. Joseph tried to flex his hand without anyone seeing the gesture, but Lindsey caught a small smile pulling at the edges of Eliot's mouth.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Joseph started, his hands clasped firmly behind his back. "My girlfriend recommended you highly."

He lifted an arm towards Lindsey, and she walked into his arm, inwardly wincing, while Eliot tensed a bit. Thankfully, Joseph didn't notice this little affair.

"Don't worry, we've done harder jobs than this one." Hardison spoke up. "Excuse my manners. I'm Mr. Smith, and this is my partner, Mr. Smith."

Lindsey could just imagine the groaning coming from the rest of the team through the two men's ear buds. Joseph raised an eyebrow and shot Lindsey a distrusting glance, but said nothing.

"Alright then." He clapped his hands together. "This is the hall that the auction will take place in. There will be twelve paintings, each located where the red X's are marked on the ground with tape. You have two days, so whatever you need, don't hesitate to ask."

Eliot and Hardison exchanged an obvious glance before turning back towards Joseph. This time, it was Eliot's turn to speak. "I'll need to see all the security measures already in place, along with a guest list and access to your current bodyguard roster."

Joseph smiled. "Man's all business. I can get you everything but the guest list."

Eliot paused for a second. "Why?"

Joseph cleared his throat, not used to being questioned after he told someone something. "I don't have one."

Hardison's eyes opened wide, and he turned toward Eliot. "He-he didn't just say what I think he said, did he?"

Eliot shook his head in shame. "He said it."

Hardison looked like he was going to choke. "No…guest list? Seriously? Oh. My. God. I can't do this, Smith. I can't do this!"

Eliot took a step towards his partner and calmly patted him on the back before sending Joseph a toned-down death glare. "Look what you did, son. Got the man all worked up."

Lindsey smirked and felt like she should offer something to the scene. She leaned toward Joseph. "You heard about that huge shooting at some gala a few years back? No guest list."

Joseph's eyes widened, the paranoia kicking in. "Let me go draw one up for you real quick. Lindsey, give them anything they need."

The host made a quick exit, leaving the three of them alone in the room. They exchanged some conversational words and kept up the act, Hardison pulling out his phone and getting to work on the camera's located in the hall while pretending like he was texting. Several moments later he nodded, giving the all clear. Lindsey snorted and rolled her eyes. "Smith and Smith? Seriously?"

Eliot growled. "It was Smith's idea."

"Hey man, don't be hatin.'" Hardison retorted, crossing his arms after sitting down his briefcase.

Eliot pointed at the thing. "You gonna do what we came here for?"

"Alright, alright." The taller man leaned down and unlatched the briefcase before taking out a baggy that was full of bugs of all shapes and sizes, which he got busy placing in strategic points around the room. Eliot started walking toward the closest X in the room and leaned down, mentally calculating how the paintings would be placed. Lindsey followed his, hugging her arms as she hovered. Eliot ignored her for a second as he completed something in his head, and then stood up, facing her. "You want to tell your 'boyfriend' to dial it down a notch?"

Lindsey sighed and bit her lip. "What am I supposed to do?"

Eliot shrugged. "I don't know, stab him with a fork?"

Apparently, something that the hitter said caused a stir from the rest of the team, because the man reached into his ear and pulled out his comm, growling at it before sticking it in the inside pocket of his jacket.

"I'm trying to help you con the man. Don't think I enjoy it."

Eliot just snorted. "Yeah. Just take a shower or something before you come home, the guy wears way to much perfume for a straight guy."

Lindsey let out a small, uncomfortable laugh, then turned serious again. "I should be back around seven or eight tonight to finish my little project."

He nodded. Just then, Hardison approached the two. "Hey man, stop flirtin' with the woman. She's taken, you know."

Eliot narrowed his eyes, but didn't get a chance to say anything because Joseph came back in the room with a small sheet of paper in his hand. He handed it to Hardison. "That's the preliminary list, walk-ins will be allowed as well."

Hardison's eyes grew wide again. "W-walk ins?"

Eliot reached out to stop the hacker. "We'll deal with it, Mr. Chester. We've got some work to attend to, we'll be back nice and early."

Joseph nodded and gave a half wave as the men disappeared through the front door. He turned to Lindsey once they were gone. "You sure they're good?"

Lindsey nodded. "They're the best. I've known them for a while. The tall one's a bit paranoid, but the other guy keeps him in check."

Joseph understood this philosophy, but Lindsey wasn't done. "It's best to get people you've never worked with before, if there really is someone out there hell-bent on destroying you, you never know where they could be."

Joseph smiled. "Absolutely right, my dear, as always."

Lindsey was inwardly laughing at the irony of her words, and managed a smile.

"Dinner tonight? Maybe you can stay."

Lindsey shook her head. "Sorry, I've got several projects I have to finish. But I will take you up on the dinner."

_A short but loud 'ding' rang through the air, and Eliot was quick to turn off the timer before moving to the oven, pressing a few buttons and removing the dish from inside. It was late morning, around ten o'clock, and the hitter was still undressed. His hair was still slightly damp from the shower he had taken an hour ago, and he was clothed in only a pair of boxers and a grey muscle shirt. He glanced at the tray he was preparing and left the kitchen for a moment in order to look down the hall and into the master bedroom, where he could see a woman stretched out on the sheets, her blonde hair splayed every which way. Satisfied that she was still sleeping, he went back to work._

_Once the tray was finished, Eliot went to pick it up, but hesitated. He wasn't sure why he was doing this, or how he had ended up so involved. He picked up the tray, trying to rid the thoughts from his mind. He had a beautiful woman sleeping in the bed, he needed to relax._

_Eliot reached the bedroom and placed the tray on the end of the bed, smirking to himself as he slid into the bed, staying above the covers. He brushed the hair from around her face and kissed her jaw line. She groaned and shifted under the covers. "f've m'nut's…"_

"_Fine, Lin, I'll eat it all myself." Eliot said, reaching for the tray. That woke the woman up, her eyes opening as she rolled around in the bed in order to face him. She frowned. "Thought you'd be gone."_

_Eliot just shrugged. "I have a few hours."_

_She then sat up in the bed, holding the sheets to cover herself with one hand while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with the other. "Breakfast?"_

_Eliot just sat back munching on a piece of toast, carefully trying not to get any crumbs on the sheets, but failing horribly. Lindsey smirked at that, then got out from under the covers and quickly entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Eliot watched her go, finishing off the toast and banging his head against the backboard, running his hand through his hair. It was never suppose to be like this; he wasn't supposed to like her. _

_It started out simple enough. Whenever he had a job for Lindsey he would stop by himself, dropping off her advance payment and the information about what he wanted. Sometimes they would go for a drink, other times they would skip that step all together. It was a friend with benefits kind of thing, but they weren't really friends. He knew nothing about her except for the fact that her name may or may not be Lindsey, and all she knew was pretty much the same on his side. They left it like that, because anything more would make things too complicated. Every once in a while he would spend the whole night, as long as he promised himself he would be gone before she woke up. And he always was._

_Then something happened. He started to stop by when there was no job. Maybe he was on his way to speak with a new client, or bust some guy's head in and he just happened to be going through Iowa and decide to stop by for a drink and a good time. He would stay longer, they would talk more, and even started going on dates. Eliot knew he needed to stop it, he couldn't get close to anyone, for several reasons. He wasn't the kind of person who you made a commitment with, or even tried to, even if that girl did know what he did. That wasn't the way the world worked._

_But he couldn't stop. He had started to think about Lindsey when he wasn't around her. He would find some woman who had her eyes or her hair, and his heart would skip a beat. The hitter had felt this only one time before, and he knew exactly what it was. He was falling for the young forger, and he was falling hard. So Eliot had to do the only thing he knew to do in a situation like this. Walk away._

_Lindsey started at herself in the mirror, slowly brushing her wet hair, watching as drops of water flicked from her hair and onto her shirt. It was methodical and mindless, leaving her lots of time to think. She was stalling for time, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do. _

_It wasn't healthy, what her and Eliot had. She had tried to not get attached, telling herself again and again that he didn't care for her, not the way she cared for him. She was just another woman on an invisible list. She reminded herself of this every time he showed up in her doorway, that cocky grin on his face, oozing of southern charm. But she was just a fad, their fling would pass, and he would leave her, because that's how it worked._

_Lindsey knew there was something there the first time she had seen the hitter those several years ago in Venice. The way he talked, the item he wanted done, the danger in his eyes. All of it drove her crazy. But she kept her distance, because nothing good could come out of a guy like that. But the more he came for her expertise, the harder it was to ignore everything. Then she had to abandon Venice because of that damn insurance investigator, and Eliot had shown up out of the blue. And she couldn't help herself. When he had kissed her, for the first time, she knew that she wanted more. So much more. And she had gotten it. Lindsey should have stopped there, told him to leave, that it was over. A one-night thing. But it grew. It grew from casual sex to something more meaningful. And Lindsey wasn't sure she could stop, because she was addicted to the man. She had fallen for Eliot Spencer._

_He was sitting in the same place she had left him in, minus the perfectly cooked piece of toast. She smiled at that thought and sat on the edge of the bed, picking up a glass of orange juice and taking a small sip._

"_What are we doing." Eliot spoke up, staring at Lindsey full in the face. He watched as her eyes close and she started to nibble on her bottom lip. She opened her eyes and stared right back. "You tell me. You're the one who keeps coming back."_

_Eliot raised his eyebrow and gave a small laugh. So direct, to the point, and utterly true. "It's unhealthy, dangerous even."_

_Lindsey snorted, rolling her eyes. He was trying to find an out, a real, solid reason to stop. But he couldn't find one, and neither could she. "You want to know what we're doing? We're conning ourselves into thinking that this is just a fling. And we both know it's grown into something more."_

_Eliot opened his mouth to object, but Lindsey cut him off. She wasn't finished. "And I know that one day you'll get tired of me and you won't come back. But you know what? I don't care."_

_Eliot shook his head. "That's the problem, sweetheart. I don't think I could ever get tired of you."_

_Lindsey smirked, an ornery look spreading across her face. "Why don't you test that philosophy."  
_

_Eliot shook his head, standing up from the bed. Lindsey's face fell slightly, worried that she might have gone a little to far. But the man only picked up the tray and set it on the ground before jumping up in the bed, grabbing her around the waist and laying her down on the bed, climbing on top of her. "Yes ma'am."_

_They both made a silent decision, right then and there. It might be dangerous, or even cause the death of them, but neither of them was ready to let go of whatever it was they had. Not yet._

Lindsey entered the door to Eliot's efficiency apartment and gently closed it, trying not to make a lot of noise. She didn't want him knowing she was there, even though she was sure that he was asleep. She had spent more time at Chester's than she meant to, and wasn't looking forward to explaining to the man why she was getting home so late. Their routine had fallen into a hazardous dance around each other in the past week. Neither of them wanting to talk about what Lindsey was having to do with Joseph.

She tiptoed silently into the kitchen, freezing when she saw that there was someone already inhabiting it. Eliot was standing in his boxers over the chopping block situated on a section of the counter. He had his hair pulled back like he always did when he was cooking, and was chopping furiously away at a poor piece of celery, his strikes fluid and void of any mercy. He had hesitated in his movements when Lindsey entered the kitchen, but was back at a steady pace. There was an underlying tone of country music filling in the silence.

Lindsey stayed in the doorway for a few moments, just watching Eliot. Then, she walked forward and hopped onto the part of the counter that was right next to the copping board. "What is that you're listening to?"

Eliot answered, not skipping a beat with his knife. "That, darlin, is real music."

Lindsey snorted in reply, her legs starting to swing. She knew that Eliot had several reasons to cook. One was that he was in a good mood, which was when he made the best food, normally of the gourmet variety; then there was his serious mode, when the food had actually been requested, and those in attendance wanted to eat; finally, there was his upset cooking, which he did instead of beating the pulp out of some unlucky bad guy who happened to be within striking distance. Lindsey knew exactly which kind of mood Eliot was in, the first two being easily eliminated. "You want to talk?"

Eliot chopped to hard and too fast, the knife becoming imbedded in the wood. "Talk 'bout what? My fiancé screwin' some old flame? Nah, not really."

Lindsey jumped down off the counter. "I haven't slept with him, Eliot! I wouldn't even _think_ about it!"

He shot her a disbelieving look and pulled his knife out of the wood and placing it in the small sink before scraping the small celery chunks into a plastic baggy. He walked over to the fridge and opened it, trading the bag for a cold beer. He grabbed a bottle opener out of one of the drawers and opened it before taking a long swig, leaning against the counter with one hand, his beverage in the other. Lindsey stared at him, her eyes drawn to the jewelry around his neck. He was wearing several necklaces, one of which was the small metal chain that held his old dog tags and was a temporary home to her engagement ring, which was twinkling from it's current position on Eliot's neck.

Lindsey stepped up to Eliot, her hand reaching around his neck to unsnap the chain, the man closing his eyes as she did so. Lindsey took the necklace in hand and slid her engagement ring off the chain and put it where it rightfully belonged, her finger. She snapped the chain back in place, running her hands lightly down his chest after she was finished. She leaned forward and kissed Eliot's bottom lip. "Why would I? I have everything I want right here."

Eliot gently kissed her back. "Damn straight." He mumbled, putting his beer on the kitchen counter to have both his arms free in order to hold on to Lindsey. One hand found its way around her waist, as the other entangled itself in her hair. She groaned, her slender fingers tugging at his ponytail, the other placed firmly on his chest.

Eliot moved to deepen the kiss, lust streaking through his body. His kiss became less gentle and more demanding, causing Lindsey to pull away. He frowned and tried again, his hand pulling her close to him again, only to have his lips meet the side of her face as she turned from him. "Just….stop, Eliot."

His hands went slack, falling to his sides, allowing Lindsey to step back, out of his personal space and far enough away where he couldn't reach her. Eliot frowned, but said nothing.

"We need to talk about this."

"About what?" The hitter asked, picking up his beer once again from the counter behind him, taking a sip before crossing his arms. Lindsey played with her ring, trying to look Eliot in the eyes. "About what's going on."

Eliot growled. "_What's_ going on? You women and your damn feelings. Can you ever just come out and say what you're pissed 'bout?"

Lindsey frowned. "Fine. You want to know what this is about? We need to stop living like we were! You aren't here for a few days' anymore, Eliot. We can't just fight, then make some half-ass apology, because we don't have that period of time away from each other where the problem will just sort itself out. We can't pick and choose anymore!"

She held up her left hand. "We're in this now, hopefully together. We have to work for it. Love alone can't do it."

Eliot sighed, running his hand over his head and along his ponytail. "Ok."

"Ok? That's it?" Lindsey breathed, disbelief written on her face.

"What do you want?" Eliot asked, annoyance in his voice. They had done this before, going round and round in circles, neither of them saying what the other wanted to hear. "Cause I'll give it to you, darlin. But you have to _tell_ me."

Lindsey frowned and looked at the floor, no longer able to maintain eye contact. "I want you to tell me it hurt…when you left."

Eliot froze, closing his eyes and slowly breathing out. So that was what she wanted. Something so simple, yet so complicated; A yes or no answer, but neither choice could satisfy the question. So the hitter started to laugh. Lindsey looked up, anger coursing through her eyes, but the words that came out of Eliot's mouth next made everything so much better.

"Why the hell d'ya think I kept comin' back?"

**--Leverage--**

Eliot grunted and pushed forward with all his weight, willing for the large container in front of him to move. However, the object had decided to be exceptionally stubborn, and refused to budge. The hitter growled and started to kick it, but remembered at the last second what was inside of the container, and stopped himself.

"It's stuck man." Hardison's voice came from the other end of the container. The large box was halfway inside the banquet hall, the other half outside in the main lobby. Apparently, the hacker had been a little off in his calculations. Eliot just rolled his eyes and took a step back before ramming into it with his shoulder. A high pitch squeak came from the other side of the container as it shot through the door. Eliot grinned and chuckled to himself, completely pleased that he managed to hit Hardison with the box while moving it. He stepped through the door himself before once again pushing the container. This time it moved freely now that it's wheels were firmly placed on the ground. Hardison shot the man a glare, but said nothing. Eliot wheeled the box over to the corner of the room, where three others just like it stood, all identical.

It was at that time that that Joseph Chester entered the room, looking worse for the wear. There was less than twelve hours to go until the auction started, and his two new security consultants were lugging in all this cargo. "What is this?"

Hardison stepped forward, smoothing down all the creases on the front of his jacket. "The usual. Metal detectors, scanners, you know."

Chester frowned, crossing his arms. "And why do we need that."

Hardison gaped at the man. "Why-why do we need that? Are you serious? People are dangerous, man!"

Eliot stepped forward, grabbing Hardison a bit tightly on the shoulder. "Chill out." He turned to Chester. "Look what you've done. What've I told you 'bout questionin' us?"

Joseph took an involuntary step backwards. "I've got a lunch date with my girlfriend. The other guards are in the back room getting prepared. I want everything finished in six hours."

The man then left out the front door, a little faster than necessary. Hardison snorted when Chester was out of sight, shaking his head. "Gotta love yankin' that dudes chain."

Eliot rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna go keep the guards busy." He stepped up to the final box that the two of them had brought in and tapped twice on the side. The top of the box opened, and Parker climbed out, a mischievous look on her face.

"Keep your ear buds in." Eliot said before disappearing into the back room. He didn't know how long he could keep the men out of the front room, and didn't want to get caught. It would ruin everything.

Hardison smirked and leaned against the large box, trying to look cool. "Do your thing girl."

The thief just smiled and grabbed a pocketknife out of one of the little pouches on her outfit, flicking it open.

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**-giggles evilly- A little Eliot/Lindsey, a lot of the awesome plotline (kinda). Anyone have any premonitions about what Mr. Chester will be experiencing? One more chapter to go, which includes the punchline, and a party organized by a specific grifter for two kinda married people. hehe. So much fun.**

**Review please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: And, like all good things, this must come to an end. (lol) Seriously, this is the final chapter to this story. The Eliot/Lindsey universe is far from over though, I promise. Thanks to all of my silent stalkers and reviewers, I love you guys! Thanks so much for your support.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Leverage, they would hold their Con-con in North Carolina so I could go to it!**

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Joseph Chester gave a crowd-dazzling smile as he made his way to the small podium located on the small raised stage. He tapped the microphone several times to test it to make sure it was on, then leaned forward to begin speaking. It was late at night, the auction having opened its doors almost two hours ago. It was time for the main event of the evening to start, and Chester was getting excited. All twelve paintings had been positioned around the room, each with their own certificate of authenticity. They had been open for those in the room to look at, but not touch. Champagne and little finger foods had been served throughout the entire ordeal, and everyone was ready for the actual auctioning to begin. Lindsey was standing near the side of the stage. She wanted to have a place near the back so she could slip out in case things got a little hairy, but Joseph had insisted on her being close to the stage. She saw Hardison and Eliot out of the corner of her eye. They were both dressed up in matching suits, Hardison standing off to the side speaking with some man about the supposed parallelism of one of the Van Gogh's with Star Trek, while Eliot was off in the other corner, chatting up some blonde as his eyes stayed constantly alert. In one point of his conversation his eyes fell on Lindsey's and he gave a small smirk. The blonde, thinking he was smiling at her, gave a small giggle and continued talking, causing Lindsey to roll her eyes before turning her attention back to Chester.

"First I would like to say thank you to everyone who made it here tonight. I hope you walk away with the masterpiece you came looking for." A small buzz of laughter floated around the room before falling quiet again. "And now, for the moment you have all been waiting for. Will the first painting be brought out, please?"

Two men in black suits came onto the stage, each of them holding the corners of one of the paintings that had been on display. Chester smiled, hearing 'oohs' of approval from the audience. "This is one of my favorites, and thought that it would be perfect to open with. This is a self-portrait by Picasso, starting off at 40 million."

There were several intakes of breath at the number was released, but bids were placed as soon as Joseph stopped talking. Soon the bidding hit 50 million, and a large grin was spreading across Joseph's face. Off to the side of the stage, Lindsey watched as Eliot's face hardened and turned toward the front door, and Lindsey gave a small smile.

Suddenly, the front doors burst opened, and a very angry-looking Sophie stormed in. She was wearing a very flattering dress, and was holding a pair of high heels in her hands, her bare feet making lots of noise as she ran into the hall.

"You bastard!" She shrieked at Chester, causing all the heads in the gallery to turn towards the angered woman. "Try to sell me a fake painting, then are cowardly enough to back out!"

Chester's eyes popped out of his head as Sophie started to walk through the crowd toward the stage. Everyone in the hall started murmuring. Was it true? Did the man who was trying to sell them these priceless paintings really try to sell a fake?

"I bet these aren't even real!" Sophie shrieked, chucking both of her shoes at Joseph, who had to duck to avoid them. Lindsey couldn't help herself from laughing. Sophie was playing her part extremely well, and had to be having a whole hell of a lot of fun playing it.

But she wasn't finished. "Check them! They're probably all faked!"

Joseph stood back up and made a quick motion to his bodyguards to grab Sophie. However, Hardison and Eliot had gotten there first and grabbed one arm each, more protecting her than restraining her. It could get really ugly. "These allegations are ridiculous. Please take your seats and we shall get back on track as soon as possible."

But the murmurs had already begun to spread, and the people were getting curious. There was a chance that the paintings could be faked, and there was millions of dollars at stake.

"Why not?" one voice form the crowd said, and agreement soon floated through the guests. Chester looked at Lindsey, who shrugged. "Let them, Joseph. Then all the question can be gone and you can get rich."

Joseph nodded and put on another smile, this one a bit smaller than his first one. "Any art inspectors in the crowd are welcome to come and inspect my paintings."

Several men and woman stood up from the crowd and walked onto the stage, taking several minutes to look at the paintings. Several whispered among themselves; one opened his briefcase and pulled out a few tools before going back to the paintings. One other checked the documents of authentication. Then, they turned around to face the crowd. "They're fake! Both the painting and the documents."

Joseph opened his mouth, then closed it again, the cycle repeating. He could get a grasp on any words, and shot a look at Lindsey for encouragement. She just shrugged, pointing out how helpless she was in the situation.

"Let me see that!" Joseph snarled, snatching the documents of authentication away from one of the inspectors. He stared at it for a while, squinting. Then, his eyes widened in realization. As a fellow forger, he could tell when things were forged, especially when he realized the work. However, since that morning, he hadn't had enough time to give everything a proper look. The piece he was holding was pretty poor work, no wonder the inspectors were able to figure out it was fake. However, the underlying signature was clear. This forgery was a piece of Minerva, or, now known, Lindsey. He turned his head toward the woman, forgetting all about everyone else in the room.

"You bitch." He hissed, running off the stage. Lindsey saw this coming and turned to run. However, the dress she was wearing wasn't exactly loose, and she found herself falling. Joseph grabbed her arm and pulled her into a chokehold as he reached into his suit pocket, pulling out a small revolver. At the sight of a gun, the guests in the building panicked, making their way out of the building. However, the guards at the doors stopped them.

"This was the plan the whole time, wasn't it!" Joseph screamed, thoroughly loosing it. He let one bullet into the ceiling, causing Lindsey to wince as the people in the building screamed. Off to the side, Eliot slowly let go of Sophie and started to make his way around the room, inching closer to Joseph as his hands grew white from clenching them so hard. "You wanted to rip me off, get all my money, payback for all those years ago!"

Another shot into the ceiling. Lindsey started to struggle, Joseph now squeezing her neck. "Who's working with you! I know she is!" He pointed his gun toward Sophie. The woman looked behind Joseph and saw Eliot shake his head. He wasn't close enough yet. Sophie, buying more time, ripped her arm from Hardison's loose grasp and took a step forward. "You caught me."

Her voice was sly, as if he hadn't truly caught her. Joseph hesitated, and loosened his grip a bit on Lindsey. Then, he pushed her forward, aiming the gun in between her eyes. "I want the rest of her crew to show themselves, or I'll kill her!"

Hardison realized that Eliot wasn't in place yet, and took a step forward. "Calm down, man. Don't hurt her."

Joseph smirked. "Mr. Smith. Knew there was something off about you. Where's that caveman of a partner of yours? He in it too?"

Suddenly an arm shot forward from the side of Joseph's vision and snapped the gun out of his hand, quickly unloading it before tossing it aside. Joseph turned his head, his eyes growing wide as he stared at Eliot, who was standing next to him, an unsettling smirk on his face. Chester had no time to react. Eliot lashed out, bringing his fist into the man's face. Chester's head snapped back and he grunted out in pain. Eliot quickly followed up with another punch and a knee to the groin for good measure. This left Chester huddled on the ground, moaning in pain. Eliot smirked and leaned down, whispering into the man's ear. "For the record, she is taken."

Then he stood up, feeling so much better with himself, and stepped over the disgraceful man on the floor, holding out a hand to Lindsey. The woman giggled and took the hand.

Police sirens could be heard from outside, and a policewoman with a blonde pigtail and an unusual bounce to her step entered the room, followed by an older looking man with brown hair. He stepped forward. "If everyone will remain calm! We will have everything sorted out soon."

Parker, the policewoman in disguise, went and handcuffed both Hardison and Eliot, who were still wearing their guard uniforms, and walked them out the front door. Nate soon followed with Sophie and Lindsey. As soon as they got clear of the front door, they made straight for a large unmarked van off to the side of the road. As soon as everyone was inside Nate jumped in the drivers seat and roared off, the parking space soon filled with police cars. Parker watched from the back window giggling. "This was so exciting!"

Eliot just grumbled, shaking the handcuffs. "Will you take these damn things off?"

"Yeah, man." Hardison remarked. Parker, however, seemed quite content with only taking Eliot's off. The thief shot the hacker a look that caused him to turn beet red. Sophie coughed and frowned. "Those were a pair of my favorite shoes…"

"Nice planning." Hardison remarked, earning a playful slap from the grifter.

Lindsey laughed, then sank back against the van wall, leaning onto Eliot, who unconsciously slung his arm around her. "That was fun, but not something I would want to repeat."

Eliot smirked. "I kinda liked beatin' the shit outa that guy."

Lindsey smiled. "That was fun to watch."

Sophie smiled; glad to see that Eliot and Lindsey had patched things up. Nate decided it was his turn to speak up, having just finished listening to the police radios. "They're going to take Chester into custody, and hopefully lock him away for life. "

"And the real paintings?" Lindsey asked, suddenly curious as to what happened with them.

"Some museums are going to have an early Christmas." Hardison stated, while Parker just pouted. "Can't understand why we couldn't have kept just one…"

"Now that this is all wrapped up, I expect for everyone to come to _Skye_ tomorrow night for Eliot and Lindsey's engagement/wedding party."

Eliot groaned, but Lindsey jabbed him in the ribs. "We'll be there."

Hardison chuckled. "Whipped."

Eliot growled and narrowed his eyes at Hardison. "Cherry."

Sophie and Lindsey giggled, Parker snorted, and Hardison just glared at the hitter. In the front seat, Nate shook his head, but couldn't stop the smile from drifted onto his face.

_Lindsey yawned as she sat stretched out on the small two-seater couch in Eliot's little apartment. Her legs dangled over the edge, her toes almost touching the floor. The compact laptop sitting on the coffee table continued to play the DVD, unfazed by the fact that its audience was no longer engaged. There was an empty soda bottle sitting next to the laptop, along with several DVD cases. The popcorn bowl was long past empty, sitting neglected on the floor. Lindsey was wearing only a large dress-shirt of Eliot's along with her undergarments, seeing that she had nothing too important to do. In fact, all she was doing was waiting. Eliot and the team had been gone for three days, off in LA for some job. Lindsey had stayed home, not being invited to go, and not wanting to be in the way. She still hadn't started back with her business yet, and truly had nothing of value to do other than shop and hang out around the gym downstairs. Before the team had left, Hardison let Lindsey borrow one of his laptops, along with seasons 1-5 of an old television show that Hardison loved. The hacker said that it would keep her busy while Eliot was gone. She had thanked the man, not really planning on watching it. However, the small apartment soon grew lonely, and with nothing to do, Lindsey had resorted to watching it. The show as actually pretty good, and not even twenty minutes into the show she had picked out her favorite character. _

_Lindsey started to fall back asleep, only to be started out of her haze by a key entering the lock for the apartment door. She looked up over the couch as Eliot entered the place, silently closing and locking the door behind him. Lindsey smiled and stood up, unable to keep another large yawn from coming to the surface. Eliot smirked at the site, placing his bag down by the entrance. "What're you doin' up so late, darlin? It's almost three in the mornin'."_

_Lindsey shrugged and embraced Eliot in a large, long hug before pulling back enough to peck him on the lips, her arms moving around his waist. "I was waiting for you."_

_Eliot gave a cocky grin and leaned into her lips once more, this time lingering a bit longer, his arms coming up to cup the sides of her face. The sound of fighting came from the small laptop, which was still running in the small living room. Eliot frowned, breaking away from the kiss. "What the hell was that?"_

_Lindsey gave a guilty smirk. "Hardison gave me some TV show to watch while you guys were gone."_

_Eliot groaned. "Please tell me you aren't goin' ta start talkin' like him."_

_Lindsey rolled her eyes and laughed. "Seriously? You think I'd do that? I got bored, and it's actually kind of good."_

"_Dare I ask?"_

_She shrugged, walking over to the coffee table, running her hand from his waist up his chest then down his arm, her fingers finally linking with his as she pulled him forward with her. Eliot dutifully followed. _

"_It's called _Angel_. He's a vampire with a soul living in LA trying to atone for his past sins."_

_Eliot snorted. "Vampire with a soul? Sounds like a coward."_

_Lindsey frowned, sitting down on the couch as she paused the DVD. "Why d'you say that?"_

"_He's too scared to face what he's done. Instead of dealin' with it, he runs around doin' good, claiming to be makin' up for the bad. That ain't how it works. What done is done, and no fixin' will ever bring it back."_

_Lindsey gave a sad smile. Everything that Eliot had said was true, it was the way the world worked. "Is that your philosophy?"_

"_Honey, my philosophy is a bit darker than that." Eliot remarked, sitting down on the couch next to his fiancé, placing his arm around her. Lindsey snuggled into his side, enjoying the warmth that radiated off his body. "Well, the vampire isn't my favorite character anyway."_

"_Really." Eliot said, making conversation._

_She nodded into his chest. "I like the lawyer. Even though he is working for the evil side, he still has some resemblance of pride and honor and knows what is right. Plus, he's hot."_

_Eliot gave Lindsey a glance before reaching forward, grabbing one of the DVD covers. He finds a picture of the guy that Lindsey was talking about and pointed at him. "That guy?"_

"_Uh huh."_

_Eliot snorted. "Look how scrawny he is. And his hair is a mess. Plus, he's really short."_

_Lindsey gave a sleepy laugh. "Jealous."_

_Eliot crossed his arms. "Is not!"_

_Lindsey sat up, smacking Eliot playfully in the chest. "Sure, whatever. Now, carry me to bed? I'm too tired."_

_Eliot smirked and stood up before scooping Lindsey up bridal style and carrying her into the bedroom. He laid her in the bed and pulled the covers over her before going into the bathroom to take a quick shower. He barely heard her question before shutting the door._

"_You see any vampires in LA?"_

Sophie hadn't gone all out, like Eliot was scared that she would have. In fact, it was really enjoyable. She had gotten them into this really high-class nightclub, where the cover charge could buy several bottles of very expensive wines. She also managed to get them a semi-private booth in one of the corners that could hold all of them comfortably, plus a few more. She also was going to buy everyone's drinks, and told them to drink as much as they wanted, especially since Nate promised them a few days off before he went in search of a new client.

And so, there they were. Sophie had, as always, decided to be fashionable, wearing a beautiful light blue dress that was complimented by a black suede jacket and high heels. Parker was wearing something simple, black skinny jeans and a t-shirt, while Hardison had gone for one of his eye-popping 'wow' looks. Nate had on a pair of jeans and a collared button up shirt. Eliot had on his normal ensemble; a plaid button up shirt left open with a t-shirt underneath, with jeans and his cow bow boots and ever-present belt buckle. Lindsey was wearing a pair of faded jeans with several layers of tank tops. The whole group was having a fun time, a drink sitting in front of each one of them, none of them being their last. Nate was the only one not drinking, he had settled for water and the occasional cranberry juice.

Lindsey smiled and leaned back into Eliot's arm, which was resting across the top of the back of the booth seats. "You guys want to hear about this one time in Davenport, when Eliot thought it would be a good idea to-"

"Another drink." Eliot hailed the waitress, causing the team to laugh.

Hardison shook his head. "Oh man, this one time, Eliot was flirtin' with this nurse when we had a job to do, right? So I pretended like I was gay…"

Lindsey laughed, and Eliot growled. "pretendin' is a stretch."

Hardison pouted, taking another sip of his orange drink. Parker wrinkled her nose. "What _is _that?"

Hardison smirked. "_That_ is the best drink ever. Orange soda and vodka."

Parker gave him a weird glance, but took a cautious sip. She thought about it for a moment as the alcohol made it's way down her throat. Then, a smile broke out across her face, and she ordered one for herself.

Eliot rolled his eyes. "Stop pollutin' her." He picked up his glass of whiskey and took a sip. "Now that is real alcohol."

Hardison rolled his eyes. Sophie smiled, looking out to the dance floor as the song switched to a slow, melodious one. The couples on the dance floor all quickly found each other. The grifter sighed and gave quick glance towards Nate before turning her attention back to her drink. Eliot rolled his eyes and sank a bit down in his chair, reaching far enough down to give Nate a good kick in the shin. The older man glared at the hitter, who started to motion with his head toward Sophie. This silent battle waged for several more seconds before the ex-insurance investigator gave in, turning in the booth to face Sophie. "Would you like to dance, Miss Devereaux?"

Sophie suddenly became all smiles as she slide out of the booth. "I'd be delighted, Mr. Ford."

They left the table, arm in arm, trying to find a spot far away from the table of thieves. Eliot just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Finally."

"Hey, give the man a break. It took you over seven years." Lindsey remarked.

"Ooh, she got you there, man!" Hardison remarked, high-fiving Parker, who was trying to sneak a sip of Hardison's drink.

Eliot growled. "Don't see you with a lady on your arm." Lindsey hooked her arm around his in order to make the point. Hardison just rolled his eyes. "Don't hate the playeh."

Parker giggled and scooted a little away from the hacker, and Eliot chuckled. Lindsey smiled and unraveled her arm from Eliot, content at the moment to stare at her drink. Eliot frowned and leaned forward. "What?"

She shrugged. "Oh nothing…just wanting to dance, that's all."

Eliot just sat back in the seat. "Sorry darlin."

Hardison snickered. "Yeah, cause he can't dance."

Eliot raised his eyebrows at Hardison. "Wanna bet?"

The hacker nodded. "Twenty bucks."

Parker smirked. "I'm with Eliot on this one."

"What! Girl, that's just cruel. I introduce you to the world of vodka soda, and you betray me?"

Parker just shrugged. "I don't want to loose my money."

Eliot just chuckled, standing up from the booth. "Can't turn that down." He held out a hand to Lindsey, who took it with a grin as he pulled her onto the dance floor, finding a spot close to the table to that Hardison could watch. The song was still slow and sweet. Eliot pulled Lindsey close to his body, both of his hands resting on her waist, while Lindsey rested her arms over his shoulders. The couple swayed to the music, their foreheads connecting while they danced. From the booth, Hardison just rolled his eyes, while Parker let out a long 'aaaw' before successfully stealing the rest of the hacker's drink.

The song that had been playing just ended, and was replaced with another, this new song more upbeat and frantic. Eliot gave a smirk toward the table before taking a short step back from his date, starting to move with the music, trying to find the beat. Lindsey turned around, her back to the hitter as she started to move with the music, her arms in the air as she shook with the tempo. Eliot placed his hands lightly on either side of her waist and moved with Lindsey, her back molding to his front as they started to grind. Eliot's hand started to slid lower down Lindsey's legs, his fingers running up and down her thighs. She moved her hands to cover his, but didn't restrict his movement. They continued like this for about half of the song before Lindsey turned around to face Eliot, running her hands down his chest as he kissed her, the two still somehow managing to keep up with the beat.

The song soon ended and Eliot led Lindsey back to the table. Both of them were out of breath, and Eliot was a bit red in the face. However, that didn't stop him from shooting a triumphant look at Hardison. "And that, son, is how you do it."

Hardison wrinkled his nose. "Thanks for that, I'm going to go and have nightmares now."

Lindsey smirked, sitting down in the booth and scooting over so Eliot could sit next to her. "Come on, you know you liked it."

Hardison shook his head, his eyes growing wide. Then, Parker spoke up. "I wanna dance like that!"

Hardison choked, pounding himself in the chest. Parker just frowned, tilting her head to one side. "Did I say something?"

Eliot chuckled. It had been fun on the dance floor, especially after seeing the look on Hardison's face. Eliot turned his head sideways and caught Lindsey's lips in another kiss, this one more gentle than the one on the dance floor, less for show and more to convey a message. She returned his kiss, her arms snaking around his neck as he pulled her in closer. They broke apart and he kissed her top lip, then up to her nose, and again to her forehead before pulling back. Hardison made a noise in the back of his throat, and then turned to Parker. "I'm gonna go get another drink to erase that from my memory. Come on."

Parker nodded, sliding out of the booth after Hardison. "Then can we dance?"

"Sure, when I finish getting drunk."

Eliot snorted, digging around in his pocket before pulling out a small key, which he placed on the table next to his drink. Lindsey gave him a sideways look, and he shrugged. "Thought I should get you somethin."

"I already have a key to your place, Eliot."

Eliot smirked. "This is _our_ place, sweetheart."

Lindsey's eyes widened as she realized what he meant. "You bought the apartment!?"

He nodded, giving her one of his cowboy smiles. Lindsey squealed and attacked him, kissing his passionately. Eliot wasn't expecting that, and fell backwards onto the seat. Lindsey climbed on top of him, and for a moment, they forget where they were. Eliot groaned as Lindsey's lips strayed from his, and he slowly moved his hands up her shirt. She gasped as his warm fingers came in contact with her hot and sweaty skin before leaning in to his touch.

"Eliot, I wondered–oh!" Sophie exclaimed, taking a step back from the booth, giving the couple time to stop what they were doing and sit up. Lindsey's face turned beat red as she smoothed down her shirt and sat up straight in the seat. Eliot came up shortly after, running his hand through his hair as he scooted out of the seat, catching his breath. "If you will excuse me, ladies."

He made off toward the restrooms. Lindsey giggled and slid over to allow Sophie entrance. The grifter accepted the seat, sitting next to the forger.

"Where'd Nate go?" Lindsey asked, fiddling with the key to the apartment.

Sophie sighed. "Phone call. Had to leave."

Lindsey nodded, sitting back in the booth. She picked up Eliot's drink and swirled it around in the glass before taking a sip, closing her eyes as the alcohol burned down her throat. "The man sure knows how to order a drink."

Sophie smiled. "How are you two? Back to normal, I'm willing to guess after seeing that little dance you displayed."

Lindsey reddened slightly at that. "What? Engaged people aren't allowed to have some fun?"

"So, is that your official title for now? Thought you were married."

Lindsey sighed, turning serious. "I don't know. He calls me his fiancé, and I still can't get used to calling him husband. So, I guess." She paused. "I want to think everything is patched up, it's just that I seem to be doing most of the talking."

Sophie nodded in understanding. "If there is one thing I learned about Eliot Spencer it is that he is a man of few words. Instead, he speaks with actions." Sophie continued. "He may not literally come out and say what you want him to say, but he'll 'say' it in his own way, if you understand what I'm trying to get out."

Lindsey snorted. "Yeah, trying to figure guys out is kind of hard to do."

The woman toasted to that, Sophie drinking from her own glass as Lindsey drank from Eliot's. Soon, the topic of the conversation came back, looking much more composed. "I just saw Parker steal some stranger's drink because it was orange."

Sophie's eyes widened and stood up. "I think that's my cue. I'll go take care of that. You two have fun."

The grifter ran off, intent on finding the thief before she got too carried away, leaving Eliot and Lindsey at the booth. Lindsey forced back a yawn as Eliot sat down, smirking as he saw her holding his drink. "I know what I'm stocking the liquor cabinet with."

Lindsey smirked and buried herself into Eliot's chest. "M' ready to go home."

Eliot nodded, kissing her forehead before standing up, allowing Lindsey to get out of the booth. "You aren't falling asleep on me, are you?"

Lindsey raised an eyebrow. "Give me a reason to stay awake."

Eliot took the key from Lindsey's hand and waved it in front of her face. "I think this place needs broken in."

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**Another happy ending. I couldn't resist using Angel, so please don't attack me! That scene did have some symbolism in it if you read close enough though, it wasn't all for fun. Hope you liked the orange vodka and dirty dancing, sure was fun to write. Had so much fun. However, I do have several other fics that I desperately need to work on, so I must retire this, if only for right now. **

**I do have a question. If I do another fic in the future, what do you want? Fluffy? Angst? Whumpage? Humor? Little of it all? Please let me know, I have several ideas, and your input would help greatly. Thanks again so much, and I hope you enjoyed!**

**Reviews would make my day!**


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